Where exactly is the support for this pose supposed to come from?

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erikaingridsmith
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June 24, 2011 at 5:58 pm

Post count: 1

#2150

I just started doing Bikram (one month ago today, woo!); I’ve done about 20 classes so far. I think I’ve gotten the basic idea of each of the poses, but I’m still having trouble with Triangle.

When I get into the position to start (leg bent, arms parallel to the floor) I feel strong and like my legs are supporting my body. When I move my arms, though, I start to feel a lot of pressure in my hip– almost as if my hip is supporting my body, not my legs. In fact, it feels somewhat like the same stretch and pressure I get from doing wind removing pose. I’m assuming this isn’t correct, right? Where should I be feeling the most support come from? Should I lean more into my thigh? Bend my leg less? Try to straighten up at the butt/hip? I feel like this pose should be working my legs a lot harder than I’m managing to do right now, but again, as a newbie I’m not totally sure.

And to make it a bit harder, when I look in the mirror I generally look (to me, at least) like I have the pose about right. But something feels off! So I still don’t know.

kfi2000
Participant

June 27, 2011 at 2:41 pm

Post count: 108

#8680

Hi and congrats on your first month of hot yoga! Since no one has replied yet, I will give you my 2 cents, but please know I am not an expert.

You will most definitely feel this posture in the hips, it is great for opening the hips. I started Bikram yoga in large part because of pain in my hips. When I started, I could do Triangle fine. Over time however, as my hips loosened up, my Triangle pose fell apart. I had to rebuild the posture as my legs developed the necessary muscle strength. If you do the pose right, you can’t help but use the leg muscles.

Your bent leg should have the thigh exactly parallel to the floor and the shin perpendicular to the floor, so you have a right angle at the knee. Don’t let your knee over-shoot the foot. The straight leg should be that…straight and locked. As you have your arms straight out to either side and parallel to the floor, the torso should be centered, not leaning, and your entire body should be in one plane. This means arms, legs, body, everything should be able to fit between two panes of glass. When you go to the next part, move only the arms, keeping them in this plane. I see many people lean forward at this point, which breaks the plane and causes the hips/butt to stick out to the back. Instead, get your initial set up right, then move ONLY the arms so that they are now perpendicular to the floor. The elbow of the lower arm should touch in front of the bent knee, and the fingers lightly touching between big and second toe.

Here you can check your alignment again, noticing a straight line along the straight leg and up the body, straight line of the two arms, creating a nice big triangle (there are smaller triangles too, so look for those).

Not only are you using the muscles in your legs, you are using EVERY muscle in this posture, which is part of what makes it so challenging. If you have the right form, I’m sure you will be engaging your leg muscles. Keep your body in that one plane (which often means pushing the hips a bit forward if they have snuck back). As you come out of the pose slowly, you should really feel it in the legs.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your practice!

-Kristin

Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
Forum Owner

June 27, 2011 at 2:52 pm

Post count: 3048

#8682

HI Erika and Kristin

I was away for 4 days and couldn’t get to a computer. Oh, alright, it was great not having to get to a computer! 😉 Thanks for getting the ball rolling K!

Anyway, Erika I have other things to offer.

Firstly, the best place to start is to ask you about your leg set-up. Can you get your bent leg at right angles? And if it is, when you bring your arm to your leg does that leg still stay at right angles? This is quite easy to check! You don’t have to look up at the ceiling. Try looking in the mirror and checking into the sensations in the legs too.

That’s your first assignment: Checking on bent and straight leg set-up. Does the bent leg stay at right angles and does the straight leg hip stay put or does it ride upwards when you bring your arms into position.

After that we’ll take it a step further

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂
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