This week’s pose seems harder to say than to do but fortunately, Tiryang Mukha Ekapada Paschimattanasana translates to the three-limbed forward fold. This pose elevates the awareness of the bandhas, helps to internally rotate the hip joints, and gives a great stretch on the quads/hamstrings.
While rotating your thighs inward, bend your right knee back and point your right toes back.
Let your right hip sink to the floor with your heel outside your buttock.
TIP: if you move your right calf out of the way, you can get a more comfortable bend in the right knee.
Your thighs remain parallel and your knees are close together.
Reaching forward, wrap your hands around the left foot and bring your chin to your left shin.
Draw your belly back and in and engage your pelvic floor to gain stability in the asana.
Press your left calf and left heel into the floor as you activate your energy.
Ground your right sit bone and the top of your right foot into the floor.
The Drishti for this pose is the toes on the left foot.
After 5 breaths release and work the other side.
Never force a pose and gradually it will come. Use effort and ease with your breath to move your practice along.
Check out my teacher, Kino’s YouTube video below. The pose starts at 6 minutes and 25 seconds into the video.
By Dr. Bruce E. Barkus
Dr. Bruce E. Barkus came to yoga, like most people, to become more flexible, get stronger and reduce stress. Low and behold he fell in love with all the other benefits yoga provides. He has been very consistent with a daily practice for the last eleven years and has come to look at it as part of his daily routine. Bruce’s certifications are Yoga Alliance RYT 500 through Asheville Yoga Center and 500 hours of Ashtanga Training for teachers with Miami Life Center. He teaches Ashtanga at Level Yoga in Vero Beach Florida and at Asheville Yoga Center. Over time, his students started asking for more details on poses and the benefits of a daily practice, so he started doing the pose of the week. There have been many that have guided his yoga practice, including Kino MacGregor, Tim Feldmann, Doug Keller, David Keil, Manju Jois, Stephanie Keach, and Lewis Rothlein. The poses he shares are primarily from the Ashtanga Primary Series as he finds the basic postures build a solid foundation for all the advanced poses.
