Asana Column: Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (Revolved Side Angle Pose)
This pose can improve digestion, cleanse abdominal organs, and enhance spinal flexibility and alignment.
By John Schumacher
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The universe moves in many ways: straight lines, curves, circles, ellipses, and apparently chaotic patterns. But when I contemplate the movement of things within and without myself—something I do fairly often as a yoga teacher—the pattern I encounter most frequently and ubiquitously is the spiral. The word spiral comes from the Latin spira, meaning to coil, and these coils are everywhere. From the immense Spiral Nebula to the minute spiraling strands of DNA, all of creation simultaneously spins and soars, twirling and swirling in a grand cosmic dance.
In yoga, no poses so clearly embody the essence of the spiral as twists do.You can find twists within every category of pose: standing, seated, inverted, and reclining. They are powerful cleansing poses, working deeply on the internal organs in a "squeeze-and-soak" action. As you squeeze a sponge to rid it of dirty water, the twists squeeze the abdominal organs, forcing out toxins and waste. Then when you release the twist, fresh blood rushes into those organs, bathing the cells with oxygen and nutrients.
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (Revolved Side Angle Pose) is an intense twist and, in my opinion, the most difficult of the basic standing poses. It challenges the practitioner's flexibility, strength, sense of balance, and presence of mind. Since this is a difficult asana for even the most experienced practitioner, some intermediate steps can help you learn to better perform the actions of the pose.
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