Posture #5
Standing Head to Knee Pose
Dandayamana-Janushirasana
The first posture of the balancing series, this posture deepens concentration, as well as builds strength throughout the body. It is a forward bending posture, working to increase the strength of the back and muscles surrounding the spine. This is where you begin to employ one of the most misunderstood principles in Bikram Yoga. It’s also an apt metaphor for living the life of a yogi, with determination and balance. In the dialogue, the instructor will demand that you: “Lock the knee! Lock the knee! Lock the knee!” You will not be able to lock your knee. It sounds so simple, but to continuously contract the thigh muscles, lock your standing knee and balance evenly on a solid, unwavering leg for even 10 seconds is nearly impossible for most beginning students. But unless you can do this, you can’t really do Bikram Yoga. This is a strong example of why concentration is so important to practicing Hatha Yoga and successfully healing the body.
Benefits:
- Develops concentration, patience and determination
- Unifies mind and body
- Tightens abdominal and thigh muscles
- Improves sciatic nerve flexibility
- Strengthens tendons, hamstrings, deltoids, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, scapulae, biceps and triceps
26 Bikram Yoga Postures
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
This is the fifth article in a twenty-six article series dedicated to each of the Beginning Bikram Yoga postures. Images, videos, descriptions, outline of benefits, practice tips, insights and the revised version of the instructor’s dialogue for each pose of Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class are included in these articles. Enjoy!
“Cheer up, things will get worse.”
— Bikram Choudhury
Namaste!
Credit: bikramyoga.com, Bikram Yoga by Bikram Choudhury, wikipedia.org, scribd.com, video: BikramWestshore
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