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| Hello,
I am an intermediate yogi and I would like to ask advanced students how do they prepare for deeper poses such as monkey pose or standing split. I have to confess that I am not really flexible in hamstrings or quads. Any suggestion would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Endev |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State | Wish I had some good advice for Hanumanasana (Monkey pose) but
unfortunately it's just something I slip into. Mostly I work on trying to
keep the pelvic bone perpendicular to the legs and the floor. Well, okay,
I am dead tired (been at it since 6:30 am yesterday), but here are some
thoughts: Hanumanasana requires that the groins be very open. So try working
on lunges first. It's easy to vary the depth of lunges to get the stretch right
for you. Also try Pigeon pose, which opens the groins and the hips. You need the
hamstrings open as well, so do Janusirsasana and Paschimottanasana too.
Depending on your body, it may also help to do some standing asanas to loosen
and align the pelvis. Try Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I) and maybe Parivrtta Parsvokonasana
for the pelvic alignment and Prasarita Padottonasasna for the hamstrings.
As I said, I'm tired and not really thinking this out carefully. Explore a bit....also
remember that you can put a block under the pelvis to support you without
going all the way to the floor (or use your arms to lift up, if you have the strength).
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| EnDev - 2005-05-06 10:29 PM
Hello,
I am an intermediate yogi and I would like to ask advanced students how do they prepare for deeper poses such as monkey pose or standing split. I have to confess that I am not really flexible in hamstrings or quads. Any suggestion would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Endev
I learned standing split against the wall, and still practice it that way half of the time.
Hip openers are great for warming up for monkey, especialls pigeon. You can also start working on monkey without going full into the pose. I use blocks for my hands, and put a blanket under my front leg. After about four months of working on this one I made it all the way down. Next is working on getting my arms up in the air.
I have a teacher who still can't get into monkey. So of course we do it alot in her intermediate classes. It's become her personal goal, as well as one for each of her students.
Anyway hope this helps. |
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| i find the deep lunge really helps in preparation for the monkey pose.
I know the pose by the name of Equestrian.
basically i't like monkey pose..but the front leg is bent--so that your thighs touch your calves..
like a deep lunge..
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| EnDev,
Under Hatha yoga section there is a thread called "Hanumasana" (Monkey pose) and you will find quite a lot of info in that thread in addition to what you have already got in this thread
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| CGG - 2005-05-08 11:47 AM
I have a teacher who still can't get into monkey. So of course we do it alot in her intermediate classes. It's become her personal goal, as well as one for each of her students.
Anyway hope this helps.
Oh I’m happy that there is another teacher who cant do monkey  ... Its Surprising.. I can do Pigeon effortlessly (One of my favourtites and I do my own variations too ) But can’t be a good monkey yet. ...  this thread reminded me to start practicing monkey again… |
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| Thank you everyone for your thoughts.
Thushara- I see you started same question earlier in Hartha forum. Thanks for pointing me to the right direction.
The reason why I am trying to practice monkey pose is because of my knee. I think I've hyper extended my knee trying get deeper into standing forward bend and triangle pose. Since monkey gets knee straight on the floor, I thought it could help me leviate my knee injury and practice at the same time. Now that I think of it, Paschimottanasana could be better solution for my problem.
EnDev
Edited by EnDev 2005-05-09 7:33 PM
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Monkey Pose
