Camatkarasana - Wild Thing

WHAT'S YOUR HAPPY POSE
Last week I delved deep into Virabhadrasana III/Warrior III and found peace with my limitations, and with all the complicated anatomical nuances of the pose. This week I feel justified to pick one of my happy poses and build a whole sequence around it. Camatkarasana/Wild Thing is the ultimate heart opening pose. The pose grows from your toes grounding down; radiates through a beautiful full body arch; manifests into the pinnacle of the pose – your heart centre; and continues down through the tip of your crown and your fingertips. With all that happening it definitely deserves the title of one of my happy pose. When teaching this sequence I noticed such happy elated vibes in the class when we all came out of the pose – which is often not the most elegant transition!

THE BENEFITS OF CAMATKARASANA/WILD THING
From an anatomical point of view it opens the chest, relieves shoulder tension and encourages full body core activation to lift your hips up. We all carry tension in our shoulders, spend most of our day with our upper back curled, and our hips flexed in a seated position – opening up into Camatkarasana/Wild Thing, savouring the stretch across the chest, shoulders and hips feels like heaven. As a backbend it is energising, aids digestion, eases stress, anxiety, tension, and boosts the immune system.  When you arch from your toes to the tip of your crown you are in a full body backbend, your heart is above your head which takes you into an unexpected inversion too with all its additional benefits.

EXPLORING CAMATKARASANA/WILD THING IN YOUR PRACTICE
When coming into the pose try not to spend too much time in Vasisthasana/Side Plank. They are both arm balancing poses and, although a strong joint, the wrist can fatigue very quickly. Follow the arch of the pose all the way from your toes, through your strong legs, your hips, your chest opening, and descend into the tip of your crown and your fingertips. Be aware of all your limbs and include them into the pose. Try to come out of the pose as consciously as you entered into it. Exhale and draw your navel towards your spine, curl in on yourself and gently flip back to Vasisthasana/Side Plank. It can be nice to take a few breathes in Downward Dog to take a bit of weight out of the wrists before you transfer over to the second side.

ALIGNMENT CUES
The above sequence will melt tight chests, warm up your spine and stretch your hip flexors in preparation for an invigorating Camatkarasana/Wild Thing.

Print out the below tips, along with the sequence, and enjoy the happy pose:

• From Vasisthasana, step your left foot behind your right leg with a bent knee.

• Ground into your right foot to lift your hips up and arch your upper back.

• Rotate your left palm to face the front of the mat, sweep your arm up and over your ear.

• Arch through your whole back, lengthen your neck and softly reach your head back.

• Expand through the collarbones to open through your heart centre, gaze up.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Virabhadrasana III - Warrior III

MAKING PEACE WITH WARRIOR III
After years of getting frustrated by how difficult I found Virabhadrasana III/Warrior III I have finally made peace with it. That’s not to say I have found perfection in the pose, but by breaking down its components I understand better why it is a tricky pose. The main challenge of Virabhadrasana III/Warrior III is that essentially it is a balancing pose where the standing leg is carrying the full weight of the body, and your centre of gravity is challenged by the back leg extending back and the upper body extending forward like a seesaw. You are also reaching back through the heel of that back leg with nothing to press against, which makes it much harder to find strength in the lifted leg. Your back is lifting the weight of the whole upper body, and the standing leg is stretching the back of the hip and the hamstrings. This means the upper body is using the muscles of a backbends, while the lower body is using the muscles of a forward bend. With all this going on the core strength is being recruited in its full circumference – front, sides and back – to stabilise you. All these opposing actions happening at the same time, it's no wonder we find Virabhadrasana III/Warrior III challenging!

THE BENEFITS OF VIRABHADRASANA III/WARRIOR III
Virabhadrasana III/Warrior III is very strengthening for the ankles, legs, shoulders and spine. It gives an opportunity to use the deep muscles of the care to find you balance and work against gravity to keep you reaching in both directions.

EXPLORING VIRABHADRASANA III/WARRIOR III IN YOUR PRACTICE
When you are coming into the pose keep the back foot on the ground for an extra breath before you lift up till you find the power of the muscle. If you are finding it hard to establish your balance bend the standing leg and press your foot into the ground. Lowering your centre of gravity makes it easier to find your balance. If you are finding it very hard to press through the lifted leg bend your knee and look for the strength of your muscles. Work on keeping your hips level and keep the raised leg lower than parallel to the ground if the hip of the back leg lifts up. Play around with flexing and pointing the foot of the raised leg. You’ll notice with the toes flexed you rely more on the quads to lift the leg and when pointed the hamstrings come into play.

ALIGNMENT CUES
The above sequence strengthens your hamstrings, quads, glutes and core first and then gently stretches them in preparation for you peak pose.

Print out the below tips, along with the sequence, and take some extra time in your Warrior III:

• From Ashta Chandrasana/Eight Crescent Moon or Virabhadrasana I/Warrior I, place your hands on your hips, inhale, lean forward and step your left leg forward a little.

• Exhale, hinge forward from the hip joint, lift your left leg parallel to the ground behind you, hips level to the ground. Roll the inner thigh of your left leg up, flex your foot and press out through the heel.

• Reach your arms back or reach your arms forward in line with your ears, lengthen through your spine and the sides of the body, gaze to the ground, or to your fingertips if your arms are forward.

Enjoy establishing a new relationship to Warrior III with no self judgement and perfectionism.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Rooting down

GROUNDING
This week has been all about exploring the concept of rooting down and finding a solid foundation, in preparation for our next Living your Yoga workshop on Yoga for Grounding, with Aisling Conn Saturday 3rd Feb, The Yoga Room. Aisling takes the reins for the asana and my job is to prepare the take home booklet on methods for grounding through asana, pranayama, essential oils and nutrition to help you navigate life off the mat. So naturally my class plan this week reflected what I’ve been researching and sequencing into my home practice. Have a read of Con Sheehans article on Grounding Practices for an introduction to what grounding is all about.

FINDING YOUR FOUNDATION
Rooting down and having a solid foundation will help you establish a strong and stable grounding to develop your asana, and work on optimal alignment for your unique body. Bringing your attention to the points of contact with the ground connects you to the earth, and helps to quieten a busy mind, build focus, and bring us back to the body. Like a tree we plant strong and secure roots to grow from. In our practice we train our mind to deal with situations so that off the mat we become better at recognising and dealing with them. Laying a track for the mind to navigate smoothly these are called positive samskaras. We learn how to find our grounding on the mat so that off the mat we might naturally find our way back to this secure, supported and balanced state.

STANDING POSES
Standing poses are very grounding. They build focus and concentration, increases circulation, and improve coordination and proprioception. To explore the concept of grounding in your practice start by standing in Tadasana/Mountain and bring your awareness to the point of contact with the ground. Press into the big toe mound, the little toe mound and the centre of the back of your heel. When you do this you’ll notice your three arches of your feet and your inner ankle lifting.This action is called Pada Bandha (foot energy lock) and brings energy up your legs and wakes up the entire body. When you encounter a pose that challenges your balance imagine roots growing from the soles of your feet, weaving around, hooking into the soil and supporting you. Feel the weight of the body bound into this support and a rebound of energy coming back up from the ground. For more on the anatomy of the foot and how to work with Pada Bandha have a read of Anatomy 101 find your feet.

EXPLORING ROOTING DOWN IN YOUR PRACTICE
As you run through the above sequence keep coming back to your points of contact with the ground. Name what is in contact with the ground to yourself, to help direct your attention there. Start the practice by stretching out the soles of the feet and backs of the heel with a version of Supta Padangustasana/Reclined Hand to Big Toe. Using a yoga strap or a belt around the balls of your foot, keep yours knees inline with each other and concentrate on pressing your heel away from you and your toes towards you. In Ashva Sanchalanasana/Galloping Horse remember we are working with grounding so avoid leaning too far forward and losing contact with the back foot. In Virabhadrasana III/Warrior III bring the focus of the pose to the standing leg. You might notice your lifted leg become stronger and lighter when you find the strength and stability of the standing leg.

ALIGNMENT CUES
The peak pose for this sequence is Virabhadrasana III/Warrior III. Read through these alignment cues to find your Warrior III.

• From Virabhadrasana I, place your hands on your hips, inhale, lean forward and step your left leg forward a little.

• Exhale, hinge forward from the hip joint, lift your left leg parallel to the ground behind you, hips level to the ground. Roll the inner thigh of your left leg up, flex your foot and press out through the heel.

• Reach your arms back or reach your arms forward in line with your ears. Lengthen through your spine and the sides of the body, gaze to the ground or to your fingertips if your arms are forward.

Print the above sequence and work through it slowly. Pause longer in each pose than you usually would will help to achieve deep grounding.

To learn more about grounding practices join Ruth Delahunty & Aisling Conn in The Yoga Room on 3rd February, 2pm, for meditation, asana practice, relaxation and take home material on top tips for grounding.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru