Week 177: Expanding Your Horizons

Welcome to my first blog post of 2016!

My yoga teacher pursuits are still on my "so-called" resolution list - okay, maybe it’s been there for many years already! That’s fine with me because once I’m a teacher, I’ll be sad to be done my blog!

I entered my practice this week with an outlook of adventure and play. The title of my online practice “Expanding Your Horizons” seemed fitting for the first week of January. I was keen for some challenge but what I got was much more! Believe it or not, I enjoyed a couple laughs and falls out of twisty poses.

One such twisty pose was fallen triangle pose.

Wait a minute…what’s fallen triangle?

I was happily surprised to learn a whole new version of trikonasana, triangle pose. Literally, it is triangle pose on its side. Initially, I didn’t really comprehend what I was doing with my body. I entered it via a three-legged downward facing dog and found myself tucking the extended knee in to only extend the leg out from under me to the opposite side. I can say without a doubt, I’ve never done that version before!

The key to proper positioning was in the feet. They needed to rotate outward - back foot into warrior two position and front foot into an inverted/side position. The subtle change of my foot position made all the difference in the world. I felt solid on my foundation and was able to lift my outside arm up to the sky.

Wow!

It wasn’t until Tracey said what the pose was - fallen triangle - that I was able to put two and two together and see that it was my beloved triangle pose, just on its side!

What I would say is this new version was an excellent core strengthener as well as a chest opener. It likely contributed to the feeling of openness that I had after practice.

What a fun and fantastic way to start 2016’s journey and exploration of yoga! Yet again, Tracey’s asana sequence knocked my socks off!

I may have fallen, but I’ve definitely got up. Ready for what the year has to bring!
LW