Wholistic Fitness

Not unlike finding the “power alley” when lowering and exploding a barbell down and up with control and elegance during Bench Presses in the Iron Temple, learning to do an ultra light and symmetrically powerful Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose… aka; Yogi Push Up) relies upon Conscious Practice. One reason why i created the HP Yoga PROP WORKOUT is to help train the internal locks by way of Direct Kinesthetic Experience instead of merely mental stabbing away at them. I also rely upon the traditional Chaturanga Dandasana which is performed by levering out onto the toes from the bottom position of the Chaturanga and back again. in my LA Yoga Studio, my students used to call these dastardly fun authentic Chaturangas, “Ilgarandas”! i don’t know why contemporary Teachers seem to sidestep the Ancient Version because in doing so, they limit their students grasp of the internal locks.

Chaturanga’s, especially done in the HP Yoga Prop Workouts, impart huge functional strength to most parts of the body and are especially useful in transferring over into outdoor forms of yoga like rock climbing. Shown above; cashing in some Chaturanga merit while finishing a boulder problem the other morning across the street at West Elden rock climbing area. i’m dressed in cycling clothes not because i want to look like and feel like Spidey while climbing (which, truth be told, i do!) but rather because i combined a Mountain Bike Ride with bouldering; perhaps my favorite Wholistic Fitness Duathlon!

photo one; waynewilliamsstudio.com excerpted from my HP Yoga PROP WORKOUT DVD.
photo two; by ananda

below i answer a question from Pakti Dass regarding Chaturanga execution:

Namaste Coach,

i know you are busy with family and a thousand other things…
– my shoulders love and respect the yoga they got last night in your HP Yoga Class. mmmm. i love the feeling (i get it after swimming too) of feeling them “peel” down my chest after a vigorous shoulder-opening exercise like that.

question – when you do the “low chataurangas,” i notice that you go deeper than Joy recommends i go. She stops me at the elbows – but your elbows appear to be level with your back? Which style should i shoot for? Especially during the pushup sequence during the “Prop Workout?”

Many thanks for all you do.
-patkidass

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Most Noble Shishya PatkiDass,

Great Question!

if i were you, i would follow the counsel of Joy. she is a much more technical asana Teacher than i.
remember, i’m just a numbskull Dharma Protector. there are many, many more skilled Asana Teachers than feeble ilg!

in fact, in nearly all my Chata’s my inner Teacher is saying to me,
“ilg, you are going too low on your Chaturanga’s again…”

in my Solo Practice, i do curb my elevation drop. when i Teach – and if i am doing the class, which i am often doing – then i often go too low because my mind is not on my form as much as it is on watching Students for safe execution.

oh, and no need to thank me…
Pine trees pollenate and caress the windsong.
ilg does this. no thanks needed.
just keep your Practice strong; you are such a young, beautiful, and power DharmaLight!

head bowed,
ilg

for more on the conventional way of teaching Chaturanga Dandasana,
copy, cut, and paste this link onto your browser:

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/469_1.cfm

and thanks for making reading DL a part of your Svadhyaya…

om so ti,

the mountain yogi