Yoga Journal - Turning Point

7/28/2019 Yoga Journal - Turning Point

1/7

Turning Point

Once you find your center, you can move in new directions.

By Rachel Brahinsky with Charles Matkin

As your yoga practice deepens, complex asanas become morethan just interesting shapes to strive for. Often, the real juicecomes during the learning process, when you pick up lessonsthat you can apply when you're off the mat, too.

Charles Matkin, yoga teacher and cofounder (with his wife, Lisa)of Matkin Yoga in Garrison, New York, believes that learning theinner workings of Parivrtta J anu Sirsasana (Revolved Head-of-the-Knee Pose) provides guidelines for weathering life'sdifficulties. "It's a backbend, a forward bend, a side bendand atwist," he says. Winding yourself into all of those shapes at thesame time requires moving from a place of deep solidity. Once

you find your center in Parivrtta J anu Sirsasana, you can extend your spine and limbssafely. Then, when life presents challenges, you can remember that sense of center,steady yourself, and expand outward and face things with ease. "If you stay true toyour essence, you can balance yourself when you're being pulled in a million differentdirections," Matkin says. "You'll be able to flip over backward without losing your senseof who you are."

As you work your way through Matkin's sequence, you will create the foundation ofParivrtta Janu Sirsasana by establishing a stable pelvis. Once you have that solidbase, you will open the hips and hamstrings to help you expand into the final pose withgrace and steadiness. It may seem as though some of the preparatory poses are moredifficult than the final asana. That's no mistake. "In North America people work andwork and work and work, with no end in sight," Matkin says. &qut;There's very littletime for pause. But in this case, all the hard work you'll do goes toward a deep stillnessthat is delicious."

If you're unable to extend into the final pose right now, remember that the heart of thesequence is about connecting to your core and your pelvis, Matkin says. "These posesgive you an opportunity to find out what's at your center. You'll begin to feel yourpotential to bend over backward out in the world, while developing the support youneed to stay there."

Benefits Aids digestion; Stretches intercostal muscles (improving respiration);Increases circulation to the spine and relieves back pain; Helps stabilize the lumbar;Stretches the hamstrings, groins, quadratus lumborum, and chest

Contraindications Sacral instability or injury; Knee instability or injury; Tornhamstrings, groin pulls; Lower back strain or spinal disk injuries

Journal - Turning Point http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/260

5/17/2012


2/7

Twisted Fan Pose

This pose appears simple, but it can be challenging tohold your center. Stand with your feet parallel andabout a leg's distance apart. Work with your kneesslightly bent and firm the hamstrings against thequadriceps to avoid hyperextension. Squeeze your legs

toward each other isometricallyas though you wereriding a horse.

On an inhalation, lengthen the waist. Then exhale andtip the torso forward, keeping it long. Walk your handsforward as far as you can while keeping the spine longand even. Stay stable: You should be able to lift yourhands off the floor without falling. Inhale and draw theshoulder blades together; as you exhale, press thenavel toward the spine.

Before you twist, bring your right hand onto your lowerback to check what Matkin calls the "temperature" ofyour spine. If you overextend the lumbar, you'll have aspinal dip that's too deep, which he calls a "hot spot."If, however, the area is not extended enough, it will feela little "cold." So if your lower back is rounded towardthe ceiling, make it "hotter" by arching a bit more, oryou can "cool it down" by lengthening the tailboneaway from the waist. Finding a balanced "temperature"will feel like a relief if your hamstrings areoverstretched.

Maintaining a long axis from your left hand through thespine, twist and grasp your left ankle with your righthand, and look under your left armpit. To keep stablein your core while opening, allow the twist to feelexpansive and luxurious, but don't let the pelvis rotatetoo much.

Stay in the pose and work with your breath longenough that, as Matkin puts it, instead of "doing" thepose, you start "being in" the pose. Don't push right

away to your edge; it's more advanced to start whereit's easy and explore without pushing. When you'reready to come out of the pose, reach your armsforward and, keeping the waist long, try the other side.

Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose)

Of all the poses in this sequence, it's most challengingto stabilize the pelvis in Parivrtta Trikonasana. It's apose that requires you to find your stability and stay


5/17/2012


3/7

honest about your limitations while you extend over afully stretched front hamstring and twist withouttoppling over. But here's some motivation: When youlearn to keep the pelvis even and aligned in this pose,you'll access a profoundly deeper twist in the upperspine.

Instead of aligning your feet heel to heel, Matkin asksthat you be a little "spicy" by using a broad stance,keeping the feet directly aligned with the hips.

To get there, stand sideways on your mat with yourlegs wide and point your right foot to the front of yourmat. Turn your left foot in to a 45-degree angle andsquare your hips. Then step your left foot to the left, sothat your feet are wider apart than your hips."Challenge yourself to find the most benefit, ratherthan the hardest variation of the pose," Matkin urges.

From here, exhale and draw your legs togetherisometrically. Inhale as you pull your shoulder bladestogether and stream your spine forward and down yourmidline as far as you can go while keeping the spinelong. Spend a few breaths finding an even"temperature" through your spine before twisting.

Then, bring the left hand to the outside of the rightfoot, and bend the right knee just a little bit (this makesthe pose easier for those with tight hamstrings andoffers a new challenge to advanced yogis). As you lift

the right hand to the ceiling, draw the right hip back,spin your chest forward, and arch your upper back.Draw the arm bones into their sockets and lift yourchest away from the pelvis, along the axis of yourlengthening core.

Keep the pelvis square to the front of the mat and keepthe shoulders aligned vertically. If you feel unstable orcan't find the twist, either drag the fingers of your lefthand against the floor and toward you for a little extratraction, or rest the hand on your shin. You can turn

your eyes to the ceiling, but don't crank your neck."Inchworm" the spine longer and longer with eachbreath.

Typically, this pose tests one's ability to stay centered.One reason for this, Matkin says, is that this asanaworks to untie the brahma granthi, the psychic "knot"that yogis say is located in the top of the lumbar area,where the fibers of the diaphragm intermesh with thefibers of the psoas muscle. "This is where you start


5/17/2012


4/7

tugging on your fixed sense of who you are, what youthink you can and cannot do," Matkin explains. Thetrick is to stay true to your center while you twist andturn your spine backward, he says.

Come out of Parivrtta Trikonasana as you exhale.Before doing the other side, first flow into BaddhaTrikonasana, keeping the right foot forward.

Baddha Trikonasana (Bound Triangle Pose)

Baddha Trikonasana foreshadows Parivrtta JanuSirsasana, because the torso mimics its shape: Thefront hip flexes deeply, and when you bind the pose,you'll experience the challenge of the torso remainingfixed against the front thigh while you simultaneouslytry to twist the torso open, toward the ceiling.

To get into the pose, shift your left toes back so thatthe foot is at a more open 15-degree angle, and line upthe right heel with the arch of the left foot. Bend yourright knee a lot, as if you were going into UtthitaParsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose). Then,roll your right shoulder down to the inside of your rightknee. Reach your right arm underneath your right thighand your left arm behind your back until you can claspthe left wrist with your right hand. Straightening the leftarm will shorten the left waist, so if you can't clasp thehands while keeping the arm bentor if you simply

can't do the bindput your left hand on your sacrumand your right hand on your shin. Matkin prefers thatyou don't use a strap as a prop for this pose so thatyou don't fixate on the goal of binding.

Exhale as you work your right hip beneath you; inhaleas you arch your spine. Then, exhaling, open yourbelly and chest toward the ceiling, and straighten theright leg while lengthening the right waist. If you feel asthough your lower back is jamming, you've gone toofar.

Breathe in Bound Triangle and feel the pose emerge,focusing on how it feels, rather than being hung up onits shape. When you're ready to move on, release yourwrist and spin your toes to face the other end of yourmat. Widen your feet for a stable base and flow intoRevolved Triangle, then Bound Triangle, with the leftleg forward.

(One-Legged King Pigeon Pose II, variation)


5/17/2012


5/7

Before heading into the delicious opening of the final pose,use this low lunge variation to deeply open the quadriceps,the psoas, and the hip flexors. First, though, do a few roundsof Sun Salutations to build heat for the backbending, andcome into Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing DogPose) for a few breaths.

From Down Dog, step your right foot between your hands andset the back knee on the floor. Take a long stance so that yourweight moves forward toward your thighbone, not directly onthe kneecap. Once again, keep your knees at least as wide asyour hips, which will provide more space for the hip and sacralarea to move. Hug your legs toward each other, spin your hipstoward the front of the mat, keeping both hip bones at thesame height and the sides of the waist even to avoidcompressing the lower back.

Once you've established your base, use your left hand to

draw your left foot toward you. Reach straight back with theleft hand, keeping your thumb pointed upward. Externallyrotate your left arm so that your shoulder blade staysconnected to the back of the ribs. Lift the left shin off the floorand grab the inner edge of the left foot. With the top of thebig-toe knuckle in the center of your palm, pivot the fingertipsforward and firmly clasp your hand over the top of your toes,pointing your elbow to the ceiling. As you draw the foot in,don't worry about how far it goes. Instead, focus on squaringthe hips and lifting out of the low back.

Continue lifting up while you exhale and settle deeply into thelunge. Press your front knee forward while pulling the frontfoot toward you isometrically. Draw the chest and pelvisvertically away from each other to give extra length to the rightwaist. As you inhale, send your breath high into the chest.Exhale and draw your abdominal muscles in toward yourspine to even out your lumbar and to build a sense of liftingenergetically and muscularly, as if water were flowing up thespine. Feel for that same lifting sensation as you move back toDownward Dog and into the lunge with the left leg forward.

The King Pigeon lunge is a key preparation for the final pose."Opening all sides of the pelvis prepares you for a deep seatand a free lumbar spine," Matkin says. "If this pose doesn'tget you started with surrender, we need to talk."

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head-of-the-Knee

Pose)

Take a few moments again to cultivate your sense of being in


5/17/2012


6/7

the practice, rather than doing all you can to push into thefinal pose. In Parivrtta J anu Sirsasana, Matkin says peopletend to grab for as much as they can get, rather thanacknowledging where they really are. "If you seek tounderstand what's going on in your body rather than fixing orchanging it, you shift your perspective," he says. So instead ofblindly pushing yourself beyond your limits, choose to

become curious about the truth of what's currently happening.

This is key for your emotional well-being, but it's also key forprotecting your hamstrings and spine from injury. As Matkinpoints out, "This is delicate equipment you're working with.You have to take time to find the pose that feels right for you.The pose that is the most beautiful is the one with the mostintegrity."

Sit with your legs in a wide straddle. Bend your left knee andbring the left foot toward your pubic bone. Use your hands toroll open the flesh of the hamstring and calf toward theceiling; this external rotation will encourage the knee to rollaway from the pelvis. Then lay your bent leg on the ground.The farther your knee points away from your straight leg, theharder the pose will be. Engage the straight leg toward centerto rotate it internally.

To prepare, reach your hands to the floor behind you and leanyour torso back, lifting the chest and lengthening the spine.Then establish the first of two twists that build the foundationof this pose. Lean back and twist toward the bent knee, withthe chest open. Take a few breaths to ground both the left

sitting bone and knee into the floor.

Come back to center, then flow into traditional J anu Sirsasanaby twisting toward the straight leg. Ground both sitting bonesas you come into a forward bend over the right leg. Stay herefor a few breaths, focusing on lengthening your spine beforemoving on.

From here, get ready to flip the spine open. Grab your rightfoot with your right thumb and first two fingers. Keep the palmfacing up. Plant your right elbow against the inner right shin

or calf. Roll your bottom shoulder back and underneath youas much as you can. Reaching the left arm out and overhead,open into a deep twist. If you can do it without compromisingthe twist, move the right hand onto the arch and grab the toeswith your left hand. Keep the bent knee rolling way out andkeep it grounded.

Matkin suggests working this pose with a wavelike breath thatpulses through the asana. As you exhale, roll the chest downtoward the floor; as you inhale, roll it up toward the ceiling so


5/17/2012


7/7

that you're moving from twist to countertwist: "That's theaction that lengthens the spine. That's the inner pulse that thebreath connects us to," Matkin explains. Do this three or fourtimes before switching sides, so it isn't a one-shot deal. "It'slike going back for dessert time and time again," he says.

As you melt into the pose, you will apply the alignment thatyou've worked with through this entire sequence. You willbend forward and lengthen your spine down the line of theleg as in Twisted Fan Pose and Revolved Triangle. Then youwill flip the spine open as you did in Bound Triangle, all thewhile accessing some of the lift of the King Pigeon Poselunge.

"The challenge," says Matkin, "is taking an asymmetricalposition and trying to make it as symmetrical as possible.You've done neutral, reverse, and bound twists in the threeprior poses; now you're mixing all three of those flavors. Thetaller you work your hip crests, as you did in the King Pigeonlunge, the more access you get to both sides of your waist."

For Matkin, it's the complexity that makes Parivrtta J anuSirsasana so beautifuland helps reveal deeper wisdomabout your practice, both on and off the mat. "Often, peoplethink they have to strain or struggle to do a pose correctly. Butin yoga you get to just keep showing upagain and again.The process is the reward. And the more you do it, the moreintimately you'll get to know yourself."

Charles Matkin began his fo rmal study o f yoga and meditation at the age of fi ve.

He studied biology, theater, and Ayurveda at Maharishi International University,

and his yoga training includes certif ications from the Yoga Zone and Jivamukti

schoo ls, p lus extensive education in Iyengar Yoga and Viniyoga. Rachel

Brahinsky is a writer and yoga teacher in San Francisco.

Return to http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2606


Documents

Yoga Journal - Turning Point