Welcome, yoga friends, to Week 7 of the yoga challenge. This week's post comes from Stephanie, a personal trainer/instructor at the YMCA. A little bio on her:
I personally practiced yoga "off and on" prior to working at the Y but started practicing more regularly after a cycling crash in 2006. I started my yoga instructor training in 2008 and became a 200 hour RYT in 2010. Currently, I'm teaching four yoga classes a week but don't have as much time as I like for my own practice. My goal for 2012 is to do at least 10 minutes a day of self practice.
Butterfly
Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)
And the variation…
Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)
Benefits (from Yoga Journal)
· Stimulates abdominal organs, ovaries and prostate gland, bladder, and kidneys
· Stimulates the heart and improves general circulation
· Stretches the inner thighs, groins, and knees
· Helps relieve mild depression, anxiety, and fatigue
· Soothes menstrual discomfort and sciatica
· Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
· Therapeutic for flat feet, high blood pressure, infertility, and asthma
· Consistent practice of this pose until late into pregnancy is said to help ease childbirth.
· Traditional texts say that Baddha Konasana destroys disease and gets rid of fatigue.
One of my favorite poses and one of my favorite poses to teach.
Why a personal favorite?
When I was younger, this pose was nothing. There was no awareness whatsoever. I could put my heels together, draw them towards my groin, splay my knees out and practically lay them on the floor and feel nothing. Shift the hips back, stretch my torso out on the floor, still nothing. Then at age 36, I fractured my pelvis in four places. Coming back to yoga after injury, and attempting this pose, I could place the soles of my feet together about 3 feet in front of me and move my knees maybe a half an inch towards the floor. A much different reality than what I had previously experienced! Slowly over the years, with daily practice, I’ve regained nearly full range of motion. I love that this pose is simple. You can easily do it while you watch TV or sitting on your bed or even better yet, reclining on your bed. I still do it daily, often many times throughout the day. I will never regain the flexibility I had prior to my bike crash in 2006 but this pose has helped me get back to doing the things I love to do and I will be a fan forever.
Why a favorite to teach?
One of my most common requests in class is, “Can we work on hips?”. By gaining flexibility in the thighs and groin, we are able to get more range of motion in our hips. This is a pose that is simple to teach without a lot of complicated directional cues and I love the variations. We can recline, we can fold forward, we can even do this with our legs up the wall. And, I know what it’s like to have incredible range of motion in the this pose and essentially no range of motion in this pose so I am able to cue individuals to help them discover what they need to do to get the full benefit. I love that you can use props to ease individuals into the pose and I do not know anyone who has not made improvement in their range of motion with consistent practice.
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