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Supta Padmasana
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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-25 4:04 PM (#81144)
Subject: Supta Padmasana


I'm having trouble with this pose

Nick et al, could you give tips or diagnose? I know it has to do with tighter hips


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Nick
Posted 2007-03-25 5:14 PM (#81151 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana



20005001002525
Location: London, England
Hi Shakira,
Well, to do padmasana safely, you need a lot of external rotation in both hips, less when you lie down than when you are sitting, but still. Is it just lotus which is tricky, or is it the lying down? Often, students hyper-extend the lumbar spine to avoid stretching tight hip muscles such as the iliopsoas, sartorius, gracilis, the adductors, and so on. If you don't feel stretch or pull in these muscles when you are doing the posture, you are either incredibly flexible in this particular position, or, you are doing it wrong. So, once again, it's the pelvic tilt that is all-important. For this to take place, you need to learn how to contract the muscles that you are lying down on-the external rotators of the hips, which also extend the hips-the gluteals, piriformis, etc. The abdominals are braced to flatten the lower spine, and to pull the pubic bone towards the sternum. This has the effect of commanding more flexibility from the thoracic spine and the shoulders-remember-if you want to stretch one muscle group, learn how to tighten another muscle group-otherwise the effects of doing yoga do not involve attaining good posture, only of increasing our flexibility.

Nick
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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-25 8:57 PM (#81163 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


from sarvangasana, i can move my legs into Padmasana, right leg under left, but only by using my hands to assist.  From there I can take Pindasana

but then when i am supine again, moving my bound legs to the floor is the challenge.  Should I work on a more smooth Padmasana with hip openers again to ease into this pose?

Much of what you said is very technical so i'm going to have to run to look up all the muscles you have named to dedicate them to spatial memory


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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-25 8:58 PM (#81164 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


Also, how is the internal hip rotation required less when supine than when seated? 
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Nick
Posted 2007-03-26 12:43 AM (#81178 - in reply to #81164)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana



20005001002525
Location: London, England
Hi Shakira,

"Also, how is the internal hip rotation required less when supine than when seated?"

It's external rotation which is less. Put it like this-if you lie down on the floor, and do a sit-up movement, you are performing hip flexion. If you do the same thing, but in padmasana, you are doing hip flexion and external rotation. See how when you sit up, the thighs are facing behind you, and when you lie down, the thighs are facing the wall behind you-the is greater external rotation in sitting, and even more in a forward bend with lotus.

Nick
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Nick
Posted 2007-03-26 12:45 AM (#81179 - in reply to #81163)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana



20005001002525
Location: London, England
"but then when i am supine again, moving my bound legs to the floor is the challenge. Should I work on a more smooth Padmasana with hip openers again to ease into this pose?"

Hiya,
Cannot tell-depends what's tight. Sorry.

Nick
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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-26 9:30 AM (#81218 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


i'm pigeon-tied, so I know i have tight internal rotators, so when I'm in Baddha Konasana, my left knee is at a 45-degree angle to the  ground whereas my right almost touches the ground now.

Could that be the problem?
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Nick
Posted 2007-03-26 10:32 AM (#81220 - in reply to #81218)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana



20005001002525
Location: London, England
Hi Shakira,
That definitely would not help.

Nick
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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-26 10:57 AM (#81222 - in reply to #81220)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


i had to laugh at your response, very diplomatic   (Brits and West Indians are alike in this way)

ok, work on regular padmasana then, and seek to increase the mobility in the left hip

thank you!

Nick - 2007-03-26 10:32 AMHi Shakira,That definitely would not help.Nick
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Nick
Posted 2007-03-26 12:06 PM (#81228 - in reply to #81222)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana



20005001002525
Location: London, England
Hi Shakira,
he he, it's good to keep some in reserve
I would guess that one of the best things for tight hips is to become adept at standing poses, and the movement between them. When I practice standing poses, I try to make it have the same look as someone practicing t'ai chi, so that the practice is distinguished by the movements as well as the postures.
Shall I teach you the airplane? You stand on one leg, with the other leg stretched out behind you, foot just above the ground. Torso is in a straight line, you are flexed at the pelvis, keep a neutral spine. Then you simply externally rotate the hip of the standing leg, keeping movements at all other joints restricted. you end up facing the wall, rather than the floor. This has been used to develop active flexibility in hip patients, it scours the actebulum and builds strenght in the muscles that control hip position and rotation.
This is also good for learning how to do yoga postures-you are becoming acquainted with the hip anatomy and function-yoga poses are complex, and we often end up asking the hip joints to do things they are not supposed to do. Postures like ardha chandrasana really benfit from this kind of understanding too

Nick
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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-26 1:47 PM (#81250 - in reply to #81228)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


so if i want to work the left hip i'd stand on that leg and use the muscles thereto turn to the left?

also, foot just above the ground?  then i'm in a diagonal not so?  or do you mean more like Warrior III

sorry to be so nit-picky, i'm so visual, it's hard to picture exactly what you're saying from your words
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Nick
Posted 2007-03-26 2:12 PM (#81258 - in reply to #81250)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana



20005001002525
Location: London, England
Hi Shakira,
You weren't being picky, I was being vague, I thought maybe I could get away with it
You are standing with your feet close. Extend the right foot behind you. As you do so, flex at the hips so that your torso forms a straight line with your back leg. But I want to see the spine in neutral-the exercise is worse than useless if you cannot do this, so learn about neutral spine from the internet. The whole time you are doing this, you have your arms stretched out, like the wings of a plane.
Then, you externally rotate your standing hip, so the rest of the body, apart from the standing leg, rotates to face sideways. Looked at from the side, the leg is now the hypoteneuse of a right-angled triangle, the standing leg is the vertical, and the ground between them is the horizontal. At the beginning of the movement, the back foot hovers just above the floor-obviously, it raises some distance from the floor as you turn around. It's good to have a studio mirror to spot yourself in if you need the visual guide.
This is a good way of stretching tight inner thighs, as you are activating the external rotators-the tone created in these muscles will inhibit the tight muscles, and keep them that way-otherwise you spend years stretching, without ever quite getting it.

Nick
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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-26 2:24 PM (#81265 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


Now I get it

thanks, Nick
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Nick
Posted 2007-03-26 2:44 PM (#81272 - in reply to #81265)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana



20005001002525
Location: London, England
hi Shakira,
No problem-let me know how you get on-I found this deceptively difficult, which highlighted ways in which I was misunderstanding the biomechanics of yoga postures.

Nick
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Hehet
Posted 2007-03-26 3:01 PM (#81279 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


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TampaEric
Posted 2007-04-02 2:57 PM (#82032 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


I'm sure you meant Urdhva Padmasana which is at the end of the finishing sequence.

Urdhva Padmasana is pretty much identical to padmasana with chin lock.

Try "turbo lotus"
You can practice sitting down legs straight. Lean back and quickly fold the right foot in first and then the left into lotus. (do not use your hands)

Once you can fold your legs into lotus without effort then you can do this standing on your shoulders no problem.


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Hehet
Posted 2007-04-02 3:30 PM (#82034 - in reply to #81144)
Subject: RE: Supta Padmasana


no, supta which i come out of after pindasana

the problem for me is opening the hips

from there i'm sure Supta and Urdhva will pose no problem
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