CHENNAI: Extended side/lateral triangle pose or Utthita Parsvakon Asan requires a warm-up before commencing as a large number of muscle groups are involved. To be able to execute this posture without injury or strain and to achieve your maximum potential with it with ease and grace you need to be warmed up. You are welcome to try this after a walk!
Steps:
(The Yoga principle is simple: Deep breathing maximizes oxygen utilization. Blood circulation improves when we stretch a body part and oxygenated blood is directed there to aid healing/tone/energise.)
This posture to me means triangles within triangles, each of them non- equilateral. (Eg. left hand is forming a triangle with the left foot and right foot. Another triangle is the left shoulder, left foot and right foot and so on…) Spot more triangles. Strive to keep the vortexes of all the triangles sharp. It doesn’t matter how much you can bend but do be mindful to keep the flanks stretched.
Benefits:
This posture helps to develop your arms and torso. It tones the sides of your hips and waist. It helps to tone the abdominal organs as one side is stretched while the other is contracted and vice-versa when switched. It is also very good to strengthen your thighs, knees and ankles as the body weight is equally distributed between the lower and upper body. Helps with sciatica and arthritis. Relieves constipation.
The author is a yoga and fitness trainer. She teaches Yoga at Sri Aurobindo Society, Bengaluru