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| Is there anybody who practice “Hanumasana” perfectly? No matter how hard I try I cannot do that. I would like to know how long it took for you to be in the posture correctly. How many sessions /times you tried to do that? You think practicing Baddha Konasana will help me to do that? Im fed up of trying this now. How long did it take you to have the flexibility to straighten your legs like that?
Always backbend postures are better for me than these leg stretched poses
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| Perfectly? or Correctly?
You know, don't you, (I think you probably do, but frustration was speaking!) that you're really asking questions that prompt the same ol' answer? Answers that are canned, can be cut and pasted from a gudzillion different threads here, and will always boil down to the same thing? Here it is:
It depends upon your body, your tightness, your hamstrings, your psoas, your quads, your frequency of practice, your form, your alignment, what you consider "perfect" or "correct" your warming up sequences beforehand, your attitude, the weather, what you ate/didn't eat in the past 48 hours, what exercise you did/didn't get in the past 48 hours...
I'll stop now because I'm boring myself.
Permit me to remind you it's a journey. There is no prize, there are no banners and trumpets. Bottom line is that you get more out of it working into the pose than you do sitting in it. Why not just relax and not push so hard (I'll bet you clench your lips!) and see where it'll go with you? Many, many asana in yoga are mental, not just hamstrings.
Baddha Konasana is only one of many asana that contribute to loosening the upper legs to help in this asana. You'd need Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (again, done with integrity), lunges, Virasana, both ardha and supta, lots of Paschimottanasana and Podottanasana, some Parsarita Podottanasana doesn't hurt, Parsvotanasana is a good one, etc. For some such as I, I need upper chest opening. I'm so tight, the small arch in the back in Hanumasana causes my back to spasm. I digress. Many of these you'll note ask you to square your hips to the front why doing an asymetrical asana. It is so in Hanumasana as well. So effectively, you're doing more intense versions of that asana standing.
You can do Baddha Konasana 'til the cows come home. But the conditions we list (and have listed many times, if you take the time to read the boards) still factor in.
Asana is like a love relationship. The more you chase it, the fast it eludes you. The minute you give up and just let it be? You turn around and bump into it, nose to nose. |
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| What is that you are doing or How are you practicing your Hanumanasana?
Neel Kulkarnni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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| I agree with Yogadancer. I figured I couldn't do the split when I was 6 so how can I expect to go straight into hanumanasana at 35. But I treat it as a journey and even though I still can't do it, I am further into it each time I try. |
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| For what it is worth, I posted some comment about this posture in another thread. YogaDancer offered a wonderful suggestion or 'tool' rather to remind yourself of the long long long long journey. She suggested an (old?) idea to use a big fat phone book as support and each day you practice, remove a page. I have taken her up on this (except I live in Birmingham AL so I use both the yellow and white pages). 
Amy |
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| Forgot to mention I can do a perfect Baddakonasa but I can't do hanumanasana so there you are. |
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| Thushara, I know it's easy to become frustrated with doing your asanas, but maybe it'll help to think of the postures that give you the most difficulty in a different manner. I remember, that I once was having a lot of issues with bakasana--try as I might, I just couldn't get it "perfect." The more I worked on it, the more frustrated I got because I felt I wasn't progressing enough. Not only was I frustrated, I felt embarassed, because as a yoga instructor, I felt I should have been able to do it easily and "perfectly" and thought to myself, "What would my students think of me if they saw that I couldn't do such a fundamental arm balance expertly?" Then I started to think about what advice I would give to a student struggling in their practice, and tried to apply that to myself, as well as what would one of the great yoga masters would say? The answer then became clear. I told myself to let go of ego and to accept my body for its limitations and consider the asana that it is in at the time as perfect in every way as long as I knew I was giving it my all but not struggling. So, after I made this change in thinking I become much happier in my practice and less frustrated with that darn perfect bakasana eluding me. I no longer became obsessed with lifting my feet off the ground in bakasana. I just went along happily with my practice daily, and continued to work on bakasana without judging myself, just gently noting what needed work. Then, one day, without thinking about it, I was in bakasana, my feet were lifted, and I had been holding it already for several breaths. I was so excited, I fell out of it. But rather than scolding myself for not holding it longer, like I would have done before, I just laughed and came back into it happily and easily.
So there you have it, I think the key to perfect asana, or in your case, the perfect hanumanasa, is to have fun with your practice, not be frustrated by it. Accept your body for what it can do at the moment your practicing the physical aspects of yoga, and eventually you'll get to where you want to go. Every asana is perfect no matter what it looks like, just as long as your trying. Keep working at it everyday, accepting your limitations and not judging yourself because the pose your doing perhaps does not look like it belongs in a yoga manual or magazine.
On another note, though, I do agree with YogaDancer and all the postures she suggested to help facilitate opening the body further for furthering your hanumanasana or split. Some other ones you might want to try are uttanasana/ standing forward bend (as it loosens the backs of the knees, and a lot of people forget it helps to have flexibility in that area because there's a lot of pulling there in hanumanasana), supta baddha konasana, upavistha konasana, janu sirsana, natarjasana/ king dancer, and supta padangusthasana. Also, if you really like doing baddha konasana, to help facilitate the further opening of the hips for hanumanasana, it might help to bend over those bent legs from the hips and waist, centering the body over the touching feet. If that's enough for your body, stay there and continue working on it. If it's not enough, or you want more stretching out of the pose, have someone push on your back and/or your knees.
Hope this all helps. And remember...have fun, be happy in your practice, observe your body gently without judgement in each asana (letting go of ego), and just keep working on it as often as you can.
Namasté! |
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| Yeah I understand its more like “frustration” to be the best in the pose In a class its more like a competition., beginners try to do better than old students.,
Thanks Yoga dancer and all of you for the advice and thank you so much itchytummy for your honest comments..
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| Omigod I did it ! I had the back of my front leg and the front of my back leg flat on the floor on both sides ! Now I just have to practise bringing my hands up to prayer. Also jut lifted both feet off the ground in bakasana for 5 breaths. I am so freaked I had to stop the practice. Maybe this 'getting up at 6am every morning to practice' thing is starting to work.  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State |
Hey, Congrats! Keep on working on it and you'll have your arms
above your head in no time.
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| Congratulations:
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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| Wow great stuff Bomberpig! I gave up Hanumasana for some time |
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| Don't give it up Thushara, if you keep trying like me you never know what might happen ! |
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| Just find an easy way to do so. Normally my students can do Hanumanasana perfectly after one or two weeks daily practise. I recommend them to use a hot-water bag under the root of the thighs. So the ligament will be soft. In the beginning time you may not sit down completely on the floor. Just use both hands to support the body. Then with correct breath, you will feel the legs are relaxed. Let the gravity help you lower your body down to the floor. |
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| Dear Beauty Cat:
With no offense to you, and with all the love for you, I must state that:
the practice you suggested will possibly result in the Hanumanasana Pose.
But, it is exttremely harmful, without any doubt. And, must not be practiced.
I mean, Hot Water bag and so on should not be used to soften the muscles.
To make it short: Flexibility is the increased range of motion in the normal circumstances of life, not due to hot baths, hot rooms, massages, vibrations, chemical injestions called muscle relaxers, etc.
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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| Hi kulkarnn, maybe you are right. But that's just my way to do this pose. I want to save time. 
For example, I always teach my students to massage special acupunture points in the soles, so they can do perfect PASCHIMOTTANASANA immediately. |
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| I was so horrified by this post, I had to stop and sit back a bit.
I am putting it off to perhaps a linguists issue and hopefully not total ignorance about physiology and what tendons and ligaments do in the body.
Warmth, such as a hot water bottle or Bikram's space heaters can effect the body after there has been some motion to stimulate the muscles.
HOWEVER
The absolute last thing any person with 1/2 a brain would want to do would be to stretch tendons and ligaments. They are the elements that hold our bones into the sockets. That permit our joints to bend safely without flipping out backwards like an umbrella in the wind. Stretching them is so dangerous, since they do not UNstretch. Ever. That's why knees and elbows are so unstable after hyperextension injuries.
You could be warming up the muscles externally, but I'd suggest you take a class on biomechanics or anatomy before you go about suggesting something so incredibly damaging.
The accupressure points are interesting, but it's also interesting that tight muscle tissue is only going to go so far, regardless of the nerve stimulation.
I'm really hoping there are semantic issues or something here. If not, my initial impression is that you're an accident waiting to happen on a student. I truly hope that is not the case, but these posts sure don't offer anything contrary.
The whole idea is pretty awful.
Christine |
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Ohhhh Thanks Kulkarnn, Yoga dancer .. I didnt Try this !!!!!  |
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| Yogadancer, thank you very much. I spent one year in studying anatomy and physiology, anatomy in asanas. I know body very well. So that's the reason I dare to do and combine different methods in yoga practise. My students never injured during yoga practice. They really enjoy the classes. And I think the acupuncture massaging is much safer. It can reduce the chance of injury. Namaste.
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| beauty_cat:
Why do you want to put a person into a pose perfection immediately. Then they would not need any practice. You can heat up the person and put them in whatever pose you want.
Neel |
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| kulkarnn - 2005-01-31 9:57 AM
beauty_cat:
Why do you want to put a person into a pose perfection immediately. Then they would not need any practice. You can heat up the person and put them in whatever pose you want.
Neel
Nothing, just find easy ways. These ways are useful and safe, so why not use? Of course they still need lots of practice. If left begginners in hot yoga room, can they do all the 26 asanas? |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | I wonder whether one can get some surgery to modify all the muscles and
joints of the body so that each pose can be done perfectly with no practice?
Then, the perfect yoga poses will result with no additional efforts by the
practitioner. This would be like breast enlargement surgery or botox for
yogis. I think an entrepreneurial doctor would make much money
from people who want to look like models in the Yoga Journal.
What do you think?
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beauty cat, i think your post struck a nerve in part because so many of us live high pressure, fast moving, competitive, sometimes superficial western lives...& we go to yoga as a refuge from that. it's a delicious luxury to be in a place where noone cares about how you look or how fast/hard youre pushing yourself toward an external goal. the last thing i'd want is advice from a teacher on how to achieve the external look of a certain pose. gathering knowledge about my body, practicing patience, appreciating precision, accepting my limitations, breathing though challenges to find ease, finding ways to appreciate what i have, ,... these are all the amazing things that i'm finding though slow practice with no focus on how my pose actually looks- and really those are the things i love best & can take with me always. |
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| Bay Guy, I think you're on to something. If we advertise it as fast and painless there's definitely some money to be made. Oh, for that matter, why don't you just open up the practice yourself? No medical degree (or the time to get it) required!  |
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Good Marketing Strategy Lora 
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Hanumasana
