Benevolent Bend
Surrender into this forward bend for a powerful lesson in releasing tension from body and mind.
By Carol Krucoff
Page:
1
2
3
4
The seated forward bend Janu Sirsasana has tremendous physical benefits: It stretches the hamstrings, calves, and lower back; opens the hips and knees; enhances digestion and elimination. But its greatest gifts are often mental and emotional, boosting flexibility of mind as well as muscles.
Like all other forward bends, Janu Sirsasana can be calming and restorative, slowing the heart rate and quieting the nervous system. But tight hips and hamstrings can make sitting on the floor difficult and bending forward seem impossible. To make this pose accessible in the beginning, you'll probably need props, typically a folded blanket to elevate the pelvis and a strap to catch the foot. It's perfectly normal to become impatient and frustrated with these modifications. But if, in your ambition to achieve the "real" pose, you haul yourself forward with your hands and strain to reach your toes, you'll risk injuring yourself.
This asana is about much more than stretching stiff legs and backs. Janu Sirsasana offers a profound lesson in truthfulness —a moral discipline called satya, one of five ethical behaviors, or yamas, outlined in the sage Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. An attitude of total honesty is critical in this pose of humility, which bows the head over the knee. Only by taking your ego out of the posture and being truthful about where you are can you progress safely and effectively. The rewards of its subtle twist are enormous; this asana helps cultivate patience, acceptance, and surrender and teaches the delicate art of letting go—of tension in the body and of striving in the mind.
Protect Your Lower Back
In Sanskrit, janu means "knee," and sirsa means "head," which is why the posture is often translated as "Head-to-Knee Pose." But "this is very misleading," wrote the late yoga master Esther Myers in Yoga and You. "When you are able to go forward fully, your head will go past your knee," and extremely flexible people will rest their faces on their shins. In his classic guide, Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says to "rest first the forehead, then the nose, then the lips and lastly the chin beyond the right knee. " Richard Faulds addresses this confusion in his book Kripalu Yoga by calling the posture "Chin-to-Knee Pose. "
Next
 
| 
