this week’s “every day” pose: Parshvakonasana

03 Jul 2013 this week’s “every day” pose: Parshvakonasana

I’ve been talking for a while in class about what I call “every day” poses, meaning a single pose that I practice every day for a week.  Picking and practicing an “every day” pose gives me the opportunity to watch a single pose change physically over the course of a week through repetition, watch my reaction to the pose each time I practice it, and deepen my knowledge of the pose both experientially and intellectually since I often dive into the anatomy of the pose as well.

This week’s “every day” pose is Parshvakonasana.

Parshvakonasana

I have 3 intentions in choosing this pose.  First, to work on balancing the asymmetry between my left and right sides. I find going to the right vastly easily than going to the left, and I want to even up this discrepancy. Second, to practice two actions with the front leg: flowing the hamstring towards the knee and the quadricep towards the hip and extending out from the inner groin to the inner knee while drawing back from the outer knee to the outer hip. Third, to move the inner rear thigh towards the outer rear thigh.

I’ll check back in with the results of my “every day” practice next Monday…

In the meantime, here’s an utterly hilarious yoga blog I just discovered: Yogabeans.com (your internet source for plastic action figures demonstrating ashtanga yoga poses). If you don’t mind a little swearing, check out their irreverently playful take on Parshvakonasana.

What’s your “every day” pose this week?

Thanks to YogaJournal.com for the pose pic of Parshvakonasana.