Stretch to strengthen your knees

V ariation I of Extended side/lateral triangle pose or Utthita Parsvakon Asan. This is a simple variation where the arm position is different.

CHENNAI: Variation I of Extended side/lateral triangle pose or Utthita Parsvakon Asan. This is a simple variation where the arm position is different.

Steps:

1. Side step with your right leg to turn 90 degrees or jump with your feet apart by 4-5 feet. Swivel your right foot out clockwise to 90 degrees and your left foot the same way to about 30 degrees. Your right kneecap will be facing the direction of your right toes.
2. Inhale and raise your arms up to the shoulder level palms down arms parallel to the floor. Beginners can pause here for a few breathing cycles, stretching your hands away from you at every exhalation.
3. At the next possible exhalation, bend the right knee taking care to keep the right knee joint directly above the right ankle. The right knee has a tendency to flop forward keep the right knee pulled back and directly above the right ankle by recruiting the thigh muscles. Keep the right thigh parallel to the floor. Keep the left leg straight.
4. Inhale again and as you exhale bend the upper body laterally to the right. Place your right elbow on your right thigh. Meanwhile move the left arm on an upswing taking it towards the sky/ceiling and over the right knee. The left arm and left leg will form one straight line.
5. In the final stage of this posture look up at your left hand and hold for 30 seconds to a minute or two all the while breathing normal. Stretch the posterior part of your body. The lower body being locked the upper body should be allowed to stretch towards the uplifted arm. The chest to be opened up and stretched sideways. Even a few seconds of perfect holding give a feeling of limitlessness. (The yoga principle is simple: Deep breathing maximizes oxygen utilisation. Blood circulation improves when we stretch a body part and oxygenated blood is directed there to aid healing/tone/energise)
6. Come back to standing position with an inhalation. Lower the arms and repeat on the other side substituting right with left. Muscles are stretched and contracted in pairs when we repeat the posture on the other side. 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 writer is a yoga and fitness trainer
at Sri Aurobindo Society, Bengaluru)