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The ASFYT Blog

Yoga anatomy related articles and videos for yoga teachers and movement professionals seeking to learn more about functional anatomy, biomechanics, common injuries and the anatomy of yoga asana.

Anatomy of Asana: Dandasana & Paschimottanasana

2/16/2014

3 Comments

 
DandasanaSteward Noack, House of Indulgence Photography
Dandasana, staff pose, is a great assessment posture to determine whether or not a student will be able to skillfully practice seated forward bending postures like Janusirshasana and Paschi-mottanasana.  The ideal alignment in Dandasana requires that the thighs are flexed 90 degrees at the hip joints with the knees fully extended, while maintaining the natural lordosis of the lumbar spine and the natural kyphosis of the thoracic spine.  If a student has tight hip extensors this won’t really be possible, as the pelvis will posteriorly tilt at the hip joints, the lower back will round and the student will either just slump forward or overwork in their thoracic erector spinae muscles to maintain some semblance of sitting up straight.  If you notice that a student is having quite a bit of difficulty sitting upright, you could have them transition to a supine position so that you can get a better idea about how tight their hip extensors actually are.  In the following video...

which was taken during ASFYT-3: Anatomy of Asana,  the class is just beginning to discuss seated forward bending postures, including:
  • Assessing posture in Dandasana
  • Assessing hamstring flexibility in a supine position
  • Stretching the hamstrings using a folding chair (for super tight students)
  • Propping Dandasana and Paschimottanasana for students with tight hip extensors, with the aim of cultivating steadiness and ease
  • Anterior pelvic tilt and sacral nutation during seated forward bending
  • Working with more flexible students in Paschimottanasana
Enjoy!

Picture
This post brought to you by: Jason Ray Brown

3 Comments
Dana
2/16/2015 05:58:21 am

It was so helpful to have the video available for this post. I will be using the assessment you showed for rage of anterior tillt of the pelvis for sure with my clients the variation of padangustansana you showed in the chair is perfect for my corporate classes.

Reply
Tamika
4/15/2016 08:05:28 pm

Thank you so much for this information and video. I have been practicing yoga for 2 years and have been struggling with forward bends with no improvement. Now I can adjust my practice to incorporate those stretches instead of potentially injuring myselc due to tight hammies.

Reply
thankful
10/28/2016 08:25:31 pm

Thank you very much for this post.
Although I have been practicing for 5 years, and have seen great progress elsewhere (e.g. backbends and torsions), I have not been able to release those hamstrings.
And I have a difficult time getting teachers to understand how difficult it is for me, and why it is not a matter of effort.
Thank you, as I can now point them to this very elocuent demonstration.
A note on the risks of pressing the student to perform forward bends I think would also be very helpful.

Reply



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  • HOME
  • ONLINE STUDY
  • ABOUT US
  • STUDENT RESOURCES
    • The ASFYT Series >
      • ASFYT-1 >
        • Orientation for Home-Study Students
        • S1 Intro to Kinesiology >
          • S1 Quiz
        • S2 Overview of the Skeletal System >
          • S2 Quiz
        • S3 Classification of Joints >
          • S3 Quiz
        • S4 Leg Ankle Foot >
          • S4 Quiz
        • S5 Hip Thigh Knee >
          • S5 Quiz
        • S6 Pelvis >
          • S6 Quiz
        • S7 Shoulder Girdle and Arm >
          • S7 Quiz
        • S8 Elbow Forearm Wrist Hand >
          • S8 Quiz
        • S9 Axial Skeleton (Bones) >
          • S9 Quiz
        • S10 Axial Skeleton (Joints) >
          • S10 Quiz
        • S11 Bone Lab
        • S12 Massage Moves for Yoga Teachers I (Shiatsu-Based)
        • Final Exam (ASFYT-1)
      • ASFYT-2 >
        • M1 Overview of Muscular System >
          • M1 Quiz
        • M2 Muscles of the Leg >
          • M2 Quiz
        • M3 Muscles of the Thigh >
          • M3 Quiz
        • M4 Muscles of the Pelvis >
          • M4 Quiz
        • M5 Muscles of the Shoulder and Arm (Part 1) >
          • M5 Quiz
        • M6 Muscles of the Shoulder and Arm (Part 2) >
          • M6 Quiz
        • M7 Muscles of the Forearm >
          • M7 Quiz
        • M8 Muscles of the Posterior Trunk and Neck >
          • M8 Quiz
        • M9 Muscles of the Anterior Trunk and Neck >
          • M9 Quiz
        • M10 Roles of Muscles >
          • M10 Quiz
        • M11 Neuromuscular System and PNF Stretching
        • M12 Massage Moves for Yoga Teachers (Myofascial-Based)
        • Final Exam (ASFYT-2)
      • ASFYT-3 >
        • K1 Seated Postures
        • K2 Sun Salutation Postures (Part 1)
        • K3 Sun Salutation Postures (Part 2)
        • K4 Side Facing Standing Poses
        • K5 Forward Facing Standing Poses
        • K6 Balancing Postures
        • K7 Prone Backbends
        • K8 Core Strengthening Postures
        • K9 Inversions
        • K10 Supine Backward Bends
        • K11 Hip Openers
        • K12 Seated Forward Bends
    • Short Course (for RYT200)
    • Printing and Saving Quiz Results
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