Externally Rotated Standing Poses D2

Practice: Externally Rotated Standing Poses D2

Length of Lesson ● 90-120 min

Materials ● Mats ● Props (blocks) ● Wall

Learning Objectives ● To instruct and clarify the Universal Actions in externally rotated standing poses ● To clearly differentiate standing poses that are neutral in the hip versus poses that are externally rotated in the hip ● To teach the dual actions in an externally rotated pose ● Students will understand that the standing thigh is the thigh that is externally rotated in ardha chandrasana

Assessment ● Through participation

Practice Notes

● Peak: Ardha Chandrasana ● Emphasize the difference between poses that are working towards neutral the hip and poses that are working one of the legs in external rotation. ● Have students deeply work external rotation in each of these poses. ● Each externally rotated pose should reinforce the external action of the front hip. ● In each pose, teach the Universal Actions - particularly the Universal Paired Actions - in order to help students recognize them in a variety of positions. ● Reinforce the Diagonal Paired Actions in the externally rotated poses.

Universal Simple Actions ● Root through the four corners of your feet ● Lengthen through the four sides of your waist ● Lengthen through the crown of your head ● Engage your core ● Spread your chest ● Soften your face

Universal Paired Actions Feet ● Lift your inner arches up ● Hug your outer ankles in

Pelvis ● Press the top of your thighs back (creates anterior pelvic tilt) ● Lengthen your sitting bones down (creates posterior pelvic tilt)

Chest/Shoulder ● Soften your front ribs in ● Broaden your collarbones

Neck/Head ● Lift your chin ● Lengthen the back of your neck

Diagonal Paired Actions ● Press the inner heel down as you wrap your sitting bone under (bent kneed externally rotated poses) ● Press the big toe mound down as you wrap your sitting bone under (straight leg standing poses)

Suggested Sequence

● Sukhasana: introducing external rotation in the class opening ● Cat/cow, downward dog, forward fold, tadasana ● Sun salutation x 5 (surya namaskar) ○ Teach fast or flowing as your style prefers ● Tree (vrksasana) ● Warrior 2 (virabhadrasana 2) ● Side angle pose (parsvakonasana) ● Triangle pose (trikonasana) ○ Enter this pose the same way you did warrior 2 and side angle ○ Emphasize the diagonal dual action (press the big toe mound and you pull

© Rachel Scott 2018 2 the front hip back and underneath you) ● Wide legged forward fold (prasarita padottanasana A and D) - to encourage an open chest ● Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana B - option to do at the wall ● Peak: Ardha Chandrasana ○ Do this pose at the wall and in pairs. ○ To clearly demonstrate the difference between a neutral and externally rotated pose, start from virabhadrasana 3 with the foot at the wall and the hips neutral (facing down) ○ Keeping the standing leg stable, have students turn just the top thigh and leg to the side (keep pelvis squaring down). Is this ardha chandrasana? N O. ○ Then, have students turn their p elvis around the standing thigh bone so that their hips and torso face the side of their mat. ■ Is this Ardha Chandrasana? YES. ■ Which thigh is externally rotating? T he standing thigh. ■ The standing hip will tend to lose external rotation; focus on the action of external rotation at the very top of the standing thigh ■ Diagonal dual action of standing leg: press into big toe mound as you wrap the sitting bone toward lifted heel ○ Do pose in the middle of room from parsvakonasana ■ Shorten stance ■ Emphasize external rotation of standing leg ■ Emphasize that the external rotators of standing leg are what stabilizes the pelvis in transition to ardha chandrasana ■ Show similarities between trikonasana, ardha chandrasana, and utthita hasta padangusthasana B (all the same pose in different orientation to gravity) Cool Down ● Seated twist (ardha matsyendrasana) - stretches outer hip, releases spine ● Agnistambhasana (or forward fold sukhasana) - stretches outer hip ● Gomukhasana - stretches outer hip ● Reclined twist - releases spine ● Happy baby (ananda balasana) - stretches adductors ● Savasana