Hot Yoga Pose Forums > Chapter: Tuladandasana
I know I do it right when I feel winded... I usually run before class too so it gives me another boost. I heard a teacher say once that doing this pose is the equivalent of running for ten minutes. I guess that's where it would get your heart rate?
AlexandriaS
What's making this pose tick for me more is visualizing the circuits of flowing blood in my body: blood from my locked arms to my chest, blood from my locked legs to my chest. It reminds me that a tight body is a light body because the blood is going exactly where it needs to be. And perhaps this relates itself to the 'winded' feeling, all that blood rushing to the heart!
KristinaS
Yes, locking is the key, as I like to say - arms, legs, hands, etc. As for the winded feeling - you are making your little heart muscle pump the harder - pulling the arms and legs long also makes the blood vessels more narrow; thus the blood has to push harder through a more narrow passageway - rather than letting gravity take the blood down the arms and legs. All in all, a great workout for the heart. Like running, but without the damaged knees and plantar fasciatus.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Doing my anatomy assignment this week I was paying attention to the first and second chakras. This is pose is very grounding for them.
AlexandriaS
Some days I feel like I nail this pose, other days I feel like a wobbly 'broken umbrella'. I also cannot sense when I'm kicking my leg too far UP versus stretching it BACK. Zach cues me on this adjustment all the time.
Another thing - sometimes I cannot SEE my feet in the front mirror without craning my neck upwards. I always felt that the neck should stay aligned with the rest of the spine, so I'm wondering if you're simply to look as far ahead as possible to maintain a lifted balance, but without shifting the neck position. Any thoughts?
Melina
Melina, if you think your leg is up too far, it usually is! Try continuing to pull the leg back, like someone is holding your ankle and pulling (its also nice to counter this by imagining someone else holding your wrists and pulling you the opposite way) once you feel that you're straight from fingertips to toes.
As for lifting the head to looking forward, it's fine; some teachers even encourage you to look between the pointer fingers of your pistol-grip. But for others keeping the neck bones aligned with the spine feels better. Both are correct. Looking down, however, will tend to collapse your pose.
I suggest continuing to move your EYES forward to look for your standing toes in the mirror. You may not find them for awhile but no matter: gazing forward/looking forward, lifting the head or just the eyes, keeps your shoulder blades pulling behind you which keeps your chest from concaving and you from collapsing into that broken umbrella pose.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I'm able to lock my arms and really stretch forward, but I find that I still struggle with the standing leg. It shakes still unless it feels as if I hyperextend it. I'm double jointed, so I wonder sometimes if this is my standing leg issue. Should I role my foot inward to the mat?
Some of the nuances of the pose seem to be to keep the chest and chin lifted with a little bit of curve to lower back . If I create these in the set up, my umbrella is much more stable.
Mallory Maier
Yes, that is the way to avoid the "Broken Umbrella" pose, Aimee; focusing your eyes ahead of you keeps the chest and chin lifting enough to keep the back flat and not rounded.
Double jointed people have twice the challenge (no pun intended). You certainly don't want to bow the leg backwards as you can imagine that is as unstable as bent knee. So don;t think about the knee at all; stabilize the leg by imagining contracting the thigh muscle of the standing leg and pulling it upward, into the hip joint, imagining it locking into place there.
If your standing foot 'flickers" on and off the mat, yes, push the inner edge of the standing foot flat. That will also help to rotate the knee correctly for a locked leg.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I feel strong in this pose! Some days I dont have a much balance as others but I love how I feel when I get it right. Like it says it the Master Book, we cant see ourselves to check, but I always wish that I could see how I am doing in this pose.
KimA
One of my favorite things to do in this pose it lock the arms behind the ears and not let them move at all from that spot as I come down into the pose. Another great tip: just before going into the pose you life the chest UP - this way it wont collapse or concave once you hinge down. That feels powerful and expansive
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I have the same problem as Aimee, double jointedness. For me, I have to totally pull in the standing leg and contract the thigh muscle. This helps to make the leg feel more stable and my knee does not feel hyperextended. Lift the chest up just before going in helps me a lot. Not only with keeping the chest open while hinging but also with balance. The "taller" I am the more balanced I feel.
GabbyL
I love feeling like I am the perfect Letter T. Tuladandasana would have been a great Sesame Street Letter T video.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
haha Sesame Street Letter T video - that would be great!! Like Kim, I love how I feel in this pose when I get it just right. I also have to remember to make sure to put my hips parallel to the floor and not let the leg lifting up wing up that side.
HeatherS
Yes hips parallel to the floor, Heather, and you'll feel stronger and more solid in the pose!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I find myself going around the house practicing this one, making my hips parallel. Im so much more flexible without being parallel, but when I do square the hips, I really have to concentrate on locking the arms again because this is when I turn into the umbrella otherwise. I feel like I am better at it when doing it alone instead of when I am shaky from doing all the poses before it first. I love this pose and I want my students to love it too.
Marguerite
I know that my hips arent parallel, I can feel it. As soon as I try to correct, on days when I even have the balance, I lose it. I think like everything else, to keep at it and it will get better
KimA
Marguerite - you have a very flexy lower body and yes, it is easier to hyper-flex when the hips arent parallel (same is true for Dandayamana Danurasana). But it will feel way more stable when those hips arent flailing about. Prepare to feel the strength of that
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Yes, Kim, squaring the hips throws the balance differently and at first, it can jolt you off your feet LOL. But like all corrections this one will strengthen your pose and your balance - and its great for healthy hips (unlike the ballet dancer hip turnout which is more like what you're doing when the hips aren't square....and we all know what happens to the hips of those beautiful ballerinas)
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
You can do anything for 10 seconds!
Just the advice I need to hear :)
"It is crucial to maintain the static relationship of your arms, body, legs, chin, and hips to each other" in this pose. Needed to hear that too - I think I am one of those people who get my upper body into position first and then focus on strengthening and lengthening my leg and squaring my hips. This usually happens at the very end of the 10 seconds and I don't feel I am getting the full experience of the pose that way. Next class I will be mindful of the relationship between my chest's liftedness and my eyes/chin; and also how quickly and efficiently I can get to the place I know I can be in this pose so that I can go further, without compromising the conditions of my body that I went into the pose with.
P.s. I love the idea of the heart physically stretching. So cool!
Grace
i do not love this pose. some days i can do it, some days i have to get out early. if i have to get out early i have been waiting for the rest of my class to finish with my arms still locked overhead. usually its my shoulders that burn with pain if i work myself up to much before going into this pose. I know its a challenge, but usually i do the best balancing stick when i just take a step, point my back to and hinge down immediately, no anticipation. its the worst when i i start to think about how out of breath i will be, or how sore my shoulders are in the pose.
danielle bumber
You are exactly correct, Danielle: you are literally "burning with anticipation" of pain in the pose. Make it easy on youself: stretch, lock, step, point, hinge. And breathe of course
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
"I think I am one of those people who get my upper body into position first and then focus on strengthening and lengthening my leg and squaring my hips"...Grace, this is how you maintain the relationship between arms, body, chin, legs, hips, by constantly checking all points. Set up the pose/check all points; move into the pose/check all points; check all points/check again. This is correct. And breathe and enjoy all points; things are always looking up and so are you in this pose!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
It is an amazing pose. It takes only ten seconds and the entire body stretches from bones to skin. Then the heart bits so fast. It is fascinating the way this pose is designed and the timing for the pose in addition to all the benefits.
Alfia
When i am a "human letter T" in this pose i tighten my body from fingertip to toetip! I am a complete isometric contraction of all my muscles. My muscles are sooooo tight but yet there is no joint movement! My muscles are very fatigued after this pose.
I avoid looking down and attempt to look between the pointer fingers or at my toes in the mirror but i never see them, will i ever see them? Like Dandayamana Dhanurasana, once i roll my hip of the extended leg down (parallel to floor) it changes my center of gravity and throws me off balance. So to avoid this as soon as i hinge forward i immediately roll the hip down and adjust my balance with the hip in the correct position in the first place!
TinaA
Locking the arms and holding them above my ears from start to finish was the turning point of this pose for me - it really feels empowering to be a Human Letter T! What makes this pose tick for you?