Stretching Angle Pose is a standing position that uses all the muscles in the body. This pose not only stretches the hips, legs, abdomen, knees but also improves the stability and endurance of the body.
Extended Side Angle Pose, Extended Side Angle Pose, also known in Sanskrit as utthita parsvakonasana. This is a pose commonly taught in Vinyasa yoga classes. If you want to conquer more difficult poses like forward bend or fixed angle pose, regular practice of utthita parsvakonasana is essential.
Benefits of the stretch angle pose
When immobilizing the feet on the floor combined with stretching the shoulders and arms, the stretch angle pose will stretch the upper body. From there, it helps to increase strength, stretching the legs, hips and hamstrings. Not only that, the triangle pose also helps to open up the chest and shoulders, so it is especially useful if you have stiff shoulders or back. At the same time, Utthita parsvakonasana can also:
- Stimulates internal organs
- Increase body endurance
- Supports the treatment of constipation, infertility, sciatica, low back pain, osteoporosis and menstrual-related symptoms
How to do the side angle movement?
To do the stretching angle pose, do:
- Start with Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
- Exhale, step left foot behind
- Raise your arms parallel to the floor and reach them out to the sides, shoulders extended, palms down
- Turn your right heel toward the center of the mat. You can either place your feet parallel to the back edge of the mat or let your toes point towards the top left corner of the mat.
- Bend your right knee so that your calf is perpendicular to your thigh and parallel to the floor
- Place your right forearm on your right thigh with your palm facing the ceiling, or you can also place the tips of your right fingers on the floor to avoid putting weight on your shoulders. For support, you can also place a yoga block underneath
- Raise your left arm and raise it straight towards the ceiling
- Open chest, make sure left shoulder is in line with right shoulder
- Turn your eyes to the left hand
- Hold for a few breaths, then return to the starting position and switch sides.
The angled pose can improve stability and increase body endurance
Some common mistakes
When practicing the tilt angle posture, the practitioner is easy to make the following mistakes:
Knees and ankles out of alignment
If the knee is out of alignment with the ankle and tends to lean forward a lot, it will increase the pressure on the knee, and if it tends to fall inward, it will easily strain the hip. Therefore, try to keep the knee in line with the ankle. You can bend your legs slightly or adjust your posture wider.
Put your weight on your arms
The arm only plays a supporting role, so you should only apply light pressure on this part. In this movement, the foot is the main weight bearing part.
The back heel does not touch the floor
The back heel should be kept firmly on the ground. If that doesn’t work, lean against a wall for support. Specifically, put your heels on the wall, as you bend your front knee and lower your torso to the side, imagine you are pushing the wall away with your heel.
Chest towards the floor
If you try to put your right hand on the floor instead of resting your forearm on your thigh, it may be difficult for you to open your chest toward the ceiling, but instead, it will point downward. To avoid this, it’s best to rest your forearms on your thighs until your body is flexible enough to rest your hands on the floor, or you can use yoga blocks for support.
Some variations of the stretch angle movement
If you have neck problems or feel discomfort in your neck when looking in the direction your arms are raised toward the ceiling, you can look to the side or even down to the carpet as long as your chest remains open. You can alsoPlace a yoga block underneath for support if your hands can’t reach the floor.
A common variation of the stretch angle is the bundle angle: grab your hands behind your back. This is a difficult variation because not everyone has enough flexibility in the shoulder joint or enough flexibility in the chest muscles and the muscles in the butt and hamstrings to get into the pose. Especially in this pose, there is a twist to open the chest up.
Some safety notes when practicing the tilt angle pose
Avoid this pose if you have injured your hip, knee, neck, or shoulder. In addition, you should also avoid exercise if you have headaches, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, and insomnia.
Above is some basic information about the tilt angle posture that easyhealthylive.com has collected. Hopefully with this information, you will add a new movement to the series of familiar daily exercises.
Reference source
How to Do Extended Side Angle (Utthita Parsvakonasana) in Yoga https://www.verywellfit.com/extended-side-angle-pos-utthita-parsvakonasana-3567116 Access date: 11/26/2020
John Alen was born in 1971 and is a doctor in the healthcare and psychology fields with many years of experience. He is currently working at easyhealthylive.com, a leading health and psychology blog. Having studied at Y1 National Medical University named after IM Sechenov, John Alen is using his knowledge and experience to help improve the physical and mental health of people in the United States.
