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short arms and twists

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thinkfirstt	short arms and twists	Lead	[-]
Posts: 95 (03/19/08 12:57:21) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None I need lots of people to answer this so I can get a sense of how long or short arms affect the twist in chair pose where hands are in prayer pose. So everyone, get up and do a chair pose, not too deep, just average. Then twist and take your left elbow outside your right leg and then hands meet together in front of the heart helping the twist. When I attempt to do this chair twist, I have to round and scrunch up my back in order to reach my elbow to the outside of the leg. Thus the twist feels very compacted, not spacious and free. Other kinds of twists don't feel this way and I wonder if it is my short arms. Or is it just my limited twisting ability. What's your opinion and thoughts? If it is my short arms, I will just not ever do this pose with the hands in namaste since it feels so restricted. If its my twisting - that's something that might change over time.
drrona		#1	[-]
Posts: 11265 (03/19/08 16:01:25) Asst. Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	hi thinkfirst i'm comfortable to be in chairpose and rest my elbows on the thigh and still have my torso extended (not hunched) make sure that your elbows are at a place on your thigh where you can utilize the lean be sure to slide the shoulder blades snugly down the back of the ribs that will help you be/stay erect if u still find that that is too far to be in a comfy twist then i would suggest that you 1. either just leave the hands in namaste @ the and spiral/twist without the extra elbow to thigh contact or 2. forget about the namaste hands and place your hands somewhere on your hips or thighs that feels like a nice contact as 'pillars' that will assist you both to be erect and twisty to a really comfy place for u! those two things stand out right now i hope one or the other or someone else's observations will assist you love, rona "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." Mother Teresa
mugwagilly		#2	[-]
Posts: 441 (03/20/08 10:41:26) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I think Rona's advice about sliding your elbow up your leg more is really good. I sometimes find that I have to round the back a little to get into this but then I'm able to straighten it out-- it depends on how warmed up and bendy I am that day. I don't think it really matters if you're doing it according to a textbook version of what it's supposed to look like. Experiment with your arm placement and see what feels right (which may be different from one day to the next). cheers, kelly
purnayoga		#3	[-]
Posts: 231 (03/23/08 10:12:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Greetings, namaste, yada yada yada. Typically in Purna Yoga we do not do passive twisting. So this pose is not in my current practice and therefore not in my current teaching. However it was part of my practice and teaching for the first year and half of my yoga life when I was a Baptiste-ite. Passive twists can be problematic when it comes to twisting action, unlike other revolved and/or twisting postures. However you were not asking for a diatribe on twists, now were you :-) Generally speaking, from an anatomical perspective, it would not be your arms. Most likely it is the absence of length in the torso (and thus the spine, and thus the vertebral bodies) that prevents you from doing the pose as you outline it. I would suggest that when the spine is "scrunched up" one not only inhibits the potential flow of prana but may also agitate the nervous system. In that pose it is far more important that you twist with length (if such a thing is even possible in a passive twist) than whether you get your elbow outside your thigh. ========================== The spoken word is your master, the unspoken word your slave.
KFN		#4	[-]
Posts: 3427 (03/23/08 12:09:24) Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	To answer Thinkfirstt's question, I am quite long-limbed, so I can get into this pose without "scrunching" and use the arms to assist with both length and twist -- still, it's not a favorite pose, but I love Jathara Parivartanasana. Purna, I'm wondering what you mean exactly by "passive twisting"? It seems to me that this pose isn't necessarily a passive twist, and should not be done passively. Diatribe is ok karen
purnayoga		#5	[-]
Posts: 235 (03/23/08 23:17:34) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Passive twisting is rotation in the transverse plane without a corresponding movement in the coronal plane. Which, I suppose is clear to yoga teachers but may not be for students. So to put it another way... When you turn the doorknob you are passively twisting it. When you turn it and pull it simultaneously you are actively twisting. Of course the application is to the spine and so the doorknob is merely a rough go at it. ========================== The spoken word is your master, the unspoken word your slave.
yogibaritone	Can relate	#6	[-]
Posts: 388 (03/24/08 04:50:45) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	As one with long torso/short limb-itis, it's funny to read from some who imagine they get it. Every body is different. Some fold easily while others are twisty or back bendy - not to mention differing proportions. Be it a large belly or breasts, ratios of the body's parts, malformations from birth, old wounds, ... all make some poses easier and some harder to arrive at/reside in comfortably. There may be some opening that will make this specific twist more manageable, but you may simply not be able to do it with "ideal" form ever. You can't keep a string straight and touch both ends together simultaneously. Coming into a deep fold (for hips sake - not hammies), it's more comfortable for me to tuck my shin into my armpit than to get my shoulder under my thigh, as this requires rounding my spine. Modify your twist. Maybe outer forearm to outer opposite thigh and reach the other mit toward the ceiling? At least it should be easier for you to get your head to the ground in a standing fold. I, personally, take issue with anyone who claims authority as to the exact or proper configuration of any posture. We're all different from each other, and from day to day. One right way? Please, give me a break.
pam		#7	[-]
Posts: 1164 (04/06/08 09:40:12) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Was someone here suggesting that there was 'one right way' to do things? hmmmmm

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