Yoga as Therapeutic Exercise: A Practical Guide for Manual Therapists

Selected aSelected asanas̄̄sanas Selected aSelected āsanas̄sanas

With an exhalation bend your knees and slowly

bring first your feet down to the floor, then your

knees. If you cannot keep your trunk straight while

coming down with both legs simultaneously, bring

one straight leg down, then the other one. Bend your

knees to the floor, bring your buttocks towards the

heels, release your hands, rest your chest on your

thighs, your arms on the floor and your forehead on

the floor or on a folded blanket if necessary. Stay

calm for 3–5 breaths or longer.

Suggestions for modifications using props

•    Practice   close   to  a   wall,   the interlocked 

fingers almost touching the wall, and the heels

touching the wall. To practice with the wall

support you can swing one leg upwards first

with the second leg following (Figure   7.9 3 ).

•    Practice   in  a   corner, with    the interlocked 

fingers as close as possible to the corner. The

elbows are at shoulder width, both elbows

at the same distance from the wall without

touching it. Check that both hips and heels

touch the wall equally.

•    Have   somebody    help    you to  get up  and down    

and control you while you are in the posture.

30. Supta Pādā gu hāsana
    (Figure 7.9 6 )

Meaning of the āsana and its name

Supta means lying down, pāda is the foot, and a gu ha

is the big toe. Supta Pādāgu hāsana is a supine pos-

ture where one big toe is caught to move the leg in

different directions (Iyengar 2001). We emphasize

the effect of stretching the legs, therefore we show the

version where a belt is used around the sole of the foot

and the leg is moved upwards. In this way the leg stretch

can be practiced with a completely relaxed spine.

Getting into the posture

1. Lie on the floor; use a folded blanket underneath
   your head if necessary.


2. Keep your left leg straight, the center of the
   heel on the floor, and the toes pointing exactly
   towards the ceiling.


3. Bend your right knee towards your chest.


4. Put the belt around the sole of your right foot,
   close to the ball of the foot; hold one part of
   the belt with each hand; you can also try with
   the belt around the heel, which emphasizes the
   lengthening of the leg.


5. Keeping your hips and your shoulder
   blades equally on the floor, and the left
   leg unchanged, straighten your right leg
   perpendicularly as you inhale, adjust the length
   of the belt accordingly.

Being in the posture: basic work

1. Keep your left heel with its center on the floor;
   push the left thigh to the floor.


2. Move your right outer hip away from the waist
   Figure 7.96 until your hips are completely symmetrical.

Figure 7.97