Yoga pose | Musasana | Studying one Yoga Pose Month

Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose): Coolest Photo Ever!

Okay, one more post.  I found this photo and had to post!  This is such a great photo!

Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose): Help!

       

I find this variation is particularly useful when I have a student who really is ready to do the pose, but has to many beliefs about their ability and keeps falling into their old habits and patterns.  It is also useful to help students get a feel of the full pose.

To do:  Place strap around ribs, just below the breasts.  Be sure to keep yourself safe as you support your student's weight.  Bend knees and draw your tailbone done (better than I did! :-) ).  Hold just enough of your student's weight so she can complete the pose.

 

Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose): Engaging the Legs

In my last post, I discussed engaging the body fully to make the pose easier.  Here let's look at engaging the legs more strongly.  When the legs are slack, the pose is MUCH harder.  (Check out this video in which I discuss the difficulties of relaxed legs and demonstrate another way to ensure legs are engaged than what I am discussing here.)

In the above photo, the student is engaging her upper body and her legs without lifting the hips.  This way, she can play with what her legs are doing without fatiguing.  Her partner is pressing on the heals with light weight and pulling gently to elongate the leg.  The pressure allows the student to "feel" the back of her legs more so she can engage them more deeply.

You can recreate this yourself in plank with your feet against the wall.  In this pose, the heals can press firmly, making the legs very strong. (A great way to teach plank, too!)

When the student lowers into the full pose, her heals will move away from the wall.  The partner pressed her hands on the student's heals so the student still had something to press against.

Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose): Engaging the Body Fully

When you engage the whole body, legs and torso, this pose gets easier!  (Not easy, maybe, but definitely easier.)  While in plank, draw your shoulderblades in and down firmly, engaging the muscles the photo indicates.  Try it!

Chaturanga Dandasana -- A Cute One!

 

Yep, I really do yoga with my kids around (and on!) me.  Not so much anymore.  They are older now.  (This little guy is now seven!)  But I did.  I took a photo as "proof" for my students!

Deepening Your Pose: Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose)

Study Points for the Yoga Pose of the Month: Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose)

Yoga pose of the month:  Let's study Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose) this month.  Here are some ideas for you to consider:

1. Can you lift from the floor up?  Traditionally, we go into the pose from the floor which is much harder than dropping into the pose.  Moving into the pose from the top down has only become popular as a result of all the Power Yoga and Sun Saluations we have been doing.  When you move from the floor, work on moving up in one unit, not lifting the hips after the shoulders have begun to come up.
   
2. When you do your pose, pay attention to the core,  shoulder blades firmly into your back, ribs and abdominals in. Play with what happens in your body when you let them go.  If you are a teacher, it will help you feel what your students are feeling in the pose.
   
3. What do you need to do to be a firm unit from feet to head in this pose?  What happens when your elbows go out or your head lifts too far or your hips come up?
   
4. Compare and contrast this pose to Tadasana (Mountain Pose).  They are remarkably similar.
   
5. Play with how you lift your head.  Pay attention to how your body and neck feels when you lift it.  Does your lift shift how the pose feels?

If you are a teacher, challenge yourself to teach this pose in each class this month.  Add this component:  Can you find something new to teach (and learn)?