Here are a few movements that can prepare you for full Chaturanga.
I remember seeing Chaturanga and thinking “that is impossible to do. It defies physics!” Until I realized I was stuck in a habit pattern I needed to break. I am breaking it down here so your learning curve won’t be as long as mine was.
One big obstacle is taking your weight forward. For some reason (which would be falling on your face actually) we don’t like to move our selves forward in space like this. Instead we opt to going straight down arching the low back and bending the elbow back while lifting shoulders towards ears. If that’s sounds familiar then this is a good way to work on that. Use a mirror or your phone’s camera or video to see what is going on in your Chaturanga.
It is not an entirely crazy idea to use a pillow in front of you under your head to reduce the fear of falling on your face until you become confident in with this movement.
What you should think about when performing this move as some of these could limit, or require you to modify your Chaturanta:
- Wrist flexion – What have you got right now? Is it a good idea to try to take your shoulders over your wrist and even if it is, is there an ideal place where you feel strong. Don’t push your wrists beyond their comfort level.
- Knees – If you feel knee discomfort add padding under them to be comfortable while learning this move.
- Shoulders – The video shows you a “moment arm” at it’s greatest. This means the this is the point where the shoulder is experiencing the most load and it requires you have the stability to control movement here. If you arch your back and lift your shoulders you have lost stability around this joint. Keeping shoulders stable help build the strength needed around the shoulders.
- Gravity – The force of gravity is the resistance factor in yoga poses. Think of how you can activate against it to feel a sense of lift, even at the lowest point. Try pressing into the floor as you lower.
Step #2
When moving from Plank to Chaturanga towards Upward Dog it is sometimes common to lose the stability of the lower spine and see the belly come down first.
If I were lying on the floor and getting up to stand, I would lift my upper body up first and then my lower…it’s a common move and nothing wrong with it …very few of us would work at 110% to just come up and our bodies are very efficient but Chaturanga requires your whole body to be active and in good form. So it may help to try a few moves and adopt a new movement pattern.
These moves may help activate your whole body so you can lower in a straight line.
This video suggests a few moves…they may or may not work for you. There is no replacing a real human to give you cues which are tailored to way you specifically move.
One thing not mentioned in this video is the legs are really strong and lifting. What is not moving is working hard to stay steady and stable.
Once you get the hang of it. You can try lifting directly from the floor. Again wrists may not love this pose and it helps to have a live trainer with you but that said…I started my day off with this move, I found it meditative to bring together all the pieces and lift up into Chaturanga.
Reference to Moment Arms and why we look at them will be explained in future blogs. Stay tuned.
*Moment arm = Shortest perpendicular line between the line of force and the axis of rotation.