Parsvottanasana (Intense Side Stretch)

By Richard Freeman



Stand with your feet about one leg-length apart. Turn the right foot out 90 degrees and the back foot in 20 to 60 degrees. The back foot should be angled just enough to maintain all three of its arches (the transverse, inner, and outer arches) and to allow for the rotation and counter-rotation required to milk the internal essence of the posture. Line up the heel of your front foot with the heel of your back foot. Square your hips in the direction of your leading foot, and tone the thigh muscles of the back leg. Next, press the palms together in Prayer Position behind the heart. To do this, roll the shoulders completely forward, crawl the hands up the lower thoracic spine with the palms turned out, and then roll the shoulders back to bring the palms together. Now inhale, toning both legs and body as if preparing for a backbend. Exhaling, fold forward, stretching the chin out over the spreading toes of the right foot. Gradually work the chin toward the shin without straining or compressing the upper portion of the neck at the base of the skull.

Notice the two intertwined rotations, or spirals, in the front leg in Parsvottanasana: the primary spiral, which you have to do to get into the pose, and the counterspiral, which you add in order to balance the pose and bring your awareness inside. The counterspiral doesn’t destroy the primary spiral; it wraps around it. Once both are set, you squeeze them into each other. The primary spiral is the external spin at the head of the femur, which takes the outer edge of the hip joint back; the counterspiral is the internal spin that grounds through the inner edge of the foot and the root of the big toe.

Next, draw the kneecaps up while micro-bending the legs to keep the hamstrings toned. This action draws the pubic bone back while simultaneously keeping the coccyx curling down into the perineum. This switches on the pelvic floor, which almost feels as if it were humming, giving you more refined control over your joints and creating integration and harmony throughout your body.

When the hip joint of the leading leg is fully drawn back, you’ll use your abdominal muscles (the external obliques and rectus abdominis) to create the final, crowning action: Twist the kidney area on the left side down and around toward the inner knee of your right leg. At the same time, apply an external rotation in the back leg as a complement to its primary inward spiral. Doing this will activate the pelvic floor while you release the palate. Refine the posture for at least five breaths. Inhale to come out. Pause for a breath or two before you do the pose on the left side with the same care as on the right.