Triangle Pose & Spine Twisting Pose - BFFs.

What turns? What twists? What turns or twists (backward)?

Acceptable answers are:

• your upper body

• your total spine

Triangle Pose & Spine Twisting Pose - BFFs

Every standing warm up posture has a buddy among the therapeutic floor postures. 

Sometimes it takes a bit of brain power to make the connection. Sometimes it doesn't. With Triangle and Spine Twist you get the connection on a plate. 🍽️

From the Triangle Pose Dialogue:

"Upper body turn, or twist backward (like the Spine Twisting Posture)" 

Have you ever thought about those words inside the brackets? (No, we don't know why they are in brackets.) 🤔

"like the Spine Twisting Posture"

Why is the upper body twist in Triangle like the twist in Spine Twist? 

It's because of the instructions: 

• elbow in front of the knee (Triangle)

• elbow exactly against the knee (Spine Twisting)

• push your knee back with the help of the elbow (Triangle and Spine Twisting)

The path of most resistance

To gain strength and flexibility, we need to place stress on our muscles and connective tissue. We do this by creating resistance to movement.

Let's see how your elbow and knee create resistance to movement in these postures.

First, an example of what not to do in Triangle Pose.

See what happens when you don't create resistance with the elbow at the knee? 

That's right - your hair falls out. 😫

Also, while there's a lot of movement in the body, there's not much happening, because the spine movement drags the shoulder and hips along for the ride.

No resistance = no good.

Now here's an example of what to do, brought to you by our wonderful student, Deb.

Watch Deb's body when she hears "Upper body turn, or twist backward (like the Spine Twisting Posture)." See how precisely and effectively she moves, twisting against the resistance she creates with her elbow in front of the knee, pushing the knee back.

What about Spine Twisting Pose?

Same thing. 

Pushing your knee back with your elbow exactly against the knee creates the resistance you twist against.

In this video, notice how the elbow exactly against the knee braces the left shoulder. That shoulder would love to follow the spine and body as they twist, but it can't. It's locked in place, creating resistance.

Even if you can't grab the knee in front perfectly, do everything you can to get the elbow exactly against the knee and push the knee back.

And yes, this is how Bikram Yoga teachers relax by the pool. 😆