Asana Kitchen: Urdhva Dhanurasana with David Garrigues (Upward Facing Bow Posture)

http://www.davidgarrigues.com

This video offers you instructions for finding an optimal position in Upward Facing Bow Pose. You’ll learn a checklist of actions that reminds you what to focus on when you come up and stay in this classic back bend shape. The checklist includes
1) centering your body weight equally between your arms and legs
2) expanding your chest, lifting up your sacrum
3) keeping your thighs parallel and drawing them towards each other.

I give you instructions for making a distinction between the actions of the upper body (chest/arms) and the lower body (pelvis/legs). Lastly I show you how the name of this pose gives you an important clue as to what constitutes its main focus--using the leverage of your foundation to bow your spine into a great arcing curve. I call this action ‘sucking the spine into the body’. Having success in constellating the action of bowing your spine in this position is difficult to achieve, and many of you will need to repeatedly contemplate this image over the course of many months in order to fully explore and develop this theme. Keep in mind that your arms and legs form 4 pillars and rooting down into the ground through these pillars stabilizes your position and gives you a splendid opportunity to work to draw your spine into a dynamic bow like curve—like the drawing back of the bowstring of a bow you are looking for a certain threshold of tension to come to life throughout your body. Just like the threshold of tension that is needed throughout a bow in order to shoot an arrow and cause it to soar through the air towards the target traveling with speed, accuracy and power.


KEYWORDS: ASHTANGA YOGA HATHA UPWARD FACING BOW POSTURE URDHVA DHANURASANA PRIMARY SERIES SECOND SERIES THIRD SERIES VINYASA ASANA KITCHEN DAVID GARRIGUES BACKBENDS FOUNDATION ASANA POSTURE DROPBACKS POSE BACK FLEXIBILITY IYENGAR JIVAMUKTI