RAVI DIXIT IS THE MAN ON THE MAT
Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose)
Benefits
- Strengthens and stretches the legs.
- Opens the chest to improve breathing.
- Releases stress and tension from the upper back and shoulders.
- Increases circulation in the lower spine to relieve back pain.
- Improves the sense of balance and focus.
Common Mistakes
- Alignment: Make sure your legs and feet are in the correct position and hips are stabilised before going into the twist.
- Don’t move your front hip outward, this creates misalignment and instability in the hips.
- Don’t allow your head to go past your front leg because you will lose the right alignment for rotation, this will make it harder to maintain your balance.
- Warm up: Don’t go into this pose early in your asana sequence, make sure the body is warmed up before attempting this pose.
Tips
- If it’s challenging to keep alignment when trying to reach the floor, use a block to put your hand on, instead of on the floor. If you do not have a block, you can bring your hand up higher or your shin or on the inside of the foot.
- Try to keep your arms in one long line, from the floor to the ceiling. If you don’t feel stability in the pose yet, don’t look up but look sideways and let the neck relax.
Getting into the pose
- Start in Utthita Tadasana
- Inhale: bring the right foot to 90 degrees and turn the left foot inwards to 45 to 60 degrees, according to your comfort, extend the arms.
- Exhale: twist the upper body towards the right side, bring the left arm down.
- Inhale: raise the right arm up and look up at the fingers
- Exhale: exhale out completely, and twist towards the right side more.
- Breathe normally: stay in the pose for four breaths.
- Inhale: look down, bring the right arm down, release the twist, and lift your upper body.
- Exhale: turn the upper body to neutral position.
Awareness
Breath awareness is important in this asana, especially while going in and coming out of the pose.
Ravi Dixit is an Indian yoga teacher living in London, passionate about making traditional yoga understandable for everyone. Visit: ravi.yoga
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