Wall as your Teacher

Your New Teacher

By Andy Roughton

Say hello to your new yoga teacher, no not me, it’s the wall behind you. The wall can teach us many things about alignment and by it’s supporting action it can help us to see more of what is happening, what is not happening and what should be happening in many classic yoga asana (poses).

Lets look at Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle Pose). Practising with your back against the wall enables you to align the pelvis and shoulders correctly over your feet. As the wall is providing us with additional support we can also focus on other aspects of the pose such as opening up the chest and lengthening the lumbar spine (good for relieving abdominal and lower back pain).

Place your mat against the wall and stand with your back to it. Step your feet about 4 feet apart. Turn the toes of the left foot in slightly and then turn the whole of the right leg and foot 90 degrees to the right. Your front foot (right) will need to be a couple of inches from the wall or you might fall forward (figure 1).

Come into Trikonasana to the right. You will benefit from taking a block to rest your right hand on as it will be easier to align the hips correctly.

Now use the wall to work at aligning your hips and pelvis and upper body. Keep the lumbar spine pressing towards the wall and roll your left hip and shoulder back to the wall. Straighten your arms and legs.

You will notice how much work is involved in getting the left buttock and left side of the trunk to touch the wall!

It is important to remember when using equipment in your yoga practice, such as the wall, that it is intended as a learning tool. So, when you place your mat in the centre of the room away from the wall remember what the wall has taught you.

For further details about Andy and Iyengar yoga visit www.hoveyoga.co.uk