Hot Yoga Pose Forums > Chapter: Dandayamana Biphatkapada Janushirasana
Pain is a powerful attention-grabber, Maria...no sense denying it but on the other hand its sort of nice to open to the possibility that things - the body! - can find balance again...no matter what. If you like separating the hands beside the feet, try pushing into those hands - or fingertips as I like to do - which gets your forehead more squarely on the knee, and helps to square the hips. Not sure how this would feel with sciatic pain but try it slowly and carefully and let me know!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Yes, I too feel pain in my left hip aligning for this pose, Maria, but enjoy the balance when I reach it, pressing through the pain. And on occasion, getting to the Pinky finger stand. The sweat in my eyes feels like I'm working my body.
amy
I have really found pushing into my hands to help push my forehead into my knee really helpful in this pose. I did not ever hear that until I read this book.
Jeanne
Nice,Jeanne and yes pushing into the hands or pads of the fingers really does help you arch the middle back and get the forehead to the knee...just dont depend on it because it feels even better to hold yourself up with your core and middle back and place your hands in prayer in front of your big toe. Amy, I NEVER recommend "pushing through the pain"....this is yoga not boot camp lol...and just as you would not leave your hand on a hot stove, pain has a purpose and should not be neglected: it lets you know when you are moving in the wrong direction! Remember the sign in the forest in The Wizard Of OZ: I'd Turn Back If I Were You!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
The way this chapter kicks off is spot on: "Although we have worked hard up to now...it isn't usually until this point after your mini break that somehow we feel the work is just beginning." I definitely often have this feeling at this point! This chapter was helpful because of the illustration. This pose is a challenge for me and I don't look around at others while in this pose so I haven't watched it play out but the illustrations and descriptions help with that. One struggle I have in this pose that isn't explicitly mentioned is interlacing all 10 fingers including your thumbs under the foot. My palms and feet are the first two parts of my body to sweat profusely in class so the gripping is hard for me! I often spend most of my time trying to get the grip down and locking my leg. Any tips for not getting hung up on this grip issue? Also noticed the author recommends staying in Part 1 for the whole first set which isn't how we do it in class, since people can kick out after 30 seconds.
Pamela
I , as Pamela found it interesting that author recommended to wait to click out till second set. After reading previous chspters( i beleive it was mentioned in introduction) I felt that she encouraged to go right into pose without procrastination.
On a different subject I found that focusing on flexing your foot and kicking with the hill adds different demention for the pose. Also, I need to focus more on keeping hills and hips in line- I think my knee is below my hip.
Irina
The saving grace of instruction for this to me, was "shorter inhales, longer exhales". When I really heard that and started to focus mostly on the breath this pose went totally new places for me. Without the choking, ready to vomit sensation my knees are straightening, and most importantly I am not horribly miserable.
Paula
For me the new exploration in the pose is trying to really square my hip. I normally would follow the cue by bringing my back hip forward, but another day during the Guru session I got adjusted by Rhonda- she pushed my back hip not just forward but also down-totally different feeling. Much deeper stretch in the hips.
Irina
Like Irina, I found an adjustment Rhonda made recently super helpful. It is amazing how "un-square" my hips are even when i feel they are pretty square! The pituitary gland massage in this pose is my absolute favorite part, I truly feel the healing powers of this pose as I have had some imbalances of the pituitary gland that have recently balanced/healed, so any pose where forehead and knee meet are extra special to me. I also feel like this pose has improved by core strength over time. I used to feel so unstable curling in and out of the pose but it has become much more stable over time.
Pamela
The chapter doesn't address this, but my main issue with this pose is breathing--I find that my breathing gets very shallow in this pose. Part of it is that I have a little too much weight in my stomach area, but there might be some other reason. Our script does address this a bit--Take shallow inhales and deeper exhales. I will try to follow Paula's advice and really focus on this type of breathing in this pose.
irenem
I love how each of you are expressing an personal connection to this pose! Paula - yes not vomiting in this pose is a good thing and not feeling miserable...breathing is the key to feeling the balance and avoiding the panicked feeling that causes that wanting to vomit sensation...compressing can cause claustrophic feelings too. Yes, Irene, follow the same breathing instructions as in the script...managing your breathing as Paula mentioned helps and as per the script notice that shallow inhales is not only whats available to you in this pose (at first) but also appropriate and you will find that longer exhales is actually easy. But PLEASE stop yourself from telling the story of your limitations! You know better than to let your story prepave your experience....! Pamela and Irina - isnt that hip adjustment thing a little miracle? There are really times when light hands-on adjustments (LIGHT!) are so helpful...and you will learn all about when and how as we progress in Teacher Training!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I'm going to admit, I have a love?hate relationship with this pose. I love the stretch in my shoulders and neck. That seems to be my tightest area. I can get my forehead to knee with my leg straight most of the time. I still can't balance but that will come. I'm with Paula though on the choking, vomiting, suffocating feeling. I do the shallow inhales, deeper exhales and focus on the breathing but as soon as I hear change all I can think is thank god.
Erica
Hey Erica...to create more of a feeling of "lightness" in the pose, especially since you've had the experience of feeling stifled, when you separate your hands from prayer position, try pressing the fingertips into the mat and "pushing backwards" from your fingertips. This will not only give you more "breathing room, " it will facilitate an overall light feeling in this pose. Its a bit challenging once you've had a challenging experience in a pose - especially one that leaves you feeling breathless - so try this little tip and see how it can soften things for you from here forward.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
This pose is a work in progress for me. My right leg is limited by sciatic pain therefore I believe limiting squaring my hips. Thank goodness for the cue of separating the hands beside feet and bending the knee to the forehead. I do like the analogy of seeing the cartoon character diving into the pool Rhonda mentioned and looking for the throat as Lisa also mentioned and cues Rhonda says in class. Tucking the chin and getting the hips square is key for me to eventually do this pose with both legs straight.
Of course the benefit of this pose is that pressing the forehead to knee to massage the pituitary gland and tucking the chin to the throat to massage the thyroid and parathyroid glands, just as the pose is titled “awakening” these glands.