Vasisthasana

Vasisthasana (vah-sish-TAHS-anna) comes in many variations. At its core, side plank is a challenging arm balance that requires core and shoulder strength. Philosophy + Origin The word “vasistha” appears in the yogic tradition as the name of several sages. This pose honors all the vasistha sages, including an array of rishis and prajapatis (lords of creation). In one story of Vasistha, he was the proud owner of a famous wish-granting cow named Nandini that helped Vashistha acquire vast wealth. While the Sanskrit translation of this pose is “Sage Vasistha’s pose,” the common translation is “side plank.” ADJUSTMENTS/MODIFICATIONS: • Wrist relief: To take your wrists out of the equation, practice with your forearm on the ground rather than your palm. • Wall: Place your feet firmly against a wall as you lift up into side plank for a more grounded, stable variation. • Neck relief: Look down or straight forward to find a comfortable variation for your neck. • Balance-aid: Option to take your bottom knee to the ground for additional support. Another option is to keep the bottom leg extended and take the top foot to the ground in front of you. • Balance challenge: Lift your hips as high as you can, then float your top leg up. STEP-BY-STEP: • Begin in high plank with hands slightly in front of your shoulders. Drop your heels to the right and shift your weight to your right hand. • Slowly reach your left hand up to the ceiling, opening your chest and hips to the left side of your mat...

Meera Watts is a yoga teacher, entrepreneur, and mom. Her writing on yoga and holistic health has appeared in Elephant Journal, Yoganonymous, OMtimes, and others. She’s also the founder and owner of Siddhi Yoga International, a yoga teacher training school based in Singapore. Siddhi Yoga runs intensive, residential trainings in India (Rishikesh, Goa, and Dharamshala), Indonesia (Bali), and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur). Sandeep Solanki was born in Mumbai, India, and has been studying yoga since 1999. He wanted to explore the effects of yoga from a scientific perspective and pursue optimal health, so he enrolled at the Ishwardas Chunilal Yogic Health Centre (ICYHC). At the ICYHC, Sandeep earned an Advanced Diploma in Yoga Education and completed additional training in acupressure. vasistha: “most excellent/best” āsana: “posture” Introduction Vasisthasana (vah-sis-TAH-suh-nuh) tones the entire upper body and strengthens the back muscles, especially the lumbar area. It develops a sense of balance and strengthens the arms, wrists, legs, and abdominal wall. Yoga has been shown to help people with type 2 diabetes by improving their blood glucose levels. The latest Muscle Focus Side Plank Pose focuses on several muscles such as • Thighs (Quadriceps) • Adductor Muscles • Calf Muscles • Pelvic Muscles • Obliques • Shoulders • Arms muscles Ideal For Health Conditions • Improves balance and concentration. • Strengthens quads or front thigh muscles. • Strengthens and tones the side muscles ...

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Side Plank Pose, or Vasisthasana, is named after Vasistha, one of the oldest Vedic sages and the author of a number of Vedic hymns. The revered sage is known to have counseled a ruler who was seeking clarity through his clouded vision. Clarity is exactly what is required as you orchestrate the various actions within your body in this challenging—some would say confidence-building—arm balance. As with so many things in life, the learning comes with the doing. As with so many things in yoga, the lesson tends to be less about physical strength and more about finding mental steadiness within uncertainty. Section divider Sanskrit Vasisthasana (vah-sish-TAHS-anna) vasistha = most excellent, best, richest asana = seat; posture Section divider Side Plank Basics Pose type: Targets: Upper body Benefits: No matter which version of the pose you practice, Side Plank can strengthen your wrists, arms, shoulders, legs, and core, including the difficult-to-reach obliques and the muscles that support your spine. It also stretches your hamstrings and hips. In terms of less tangible benefits, the pose challenges your balance and enhances your proprioception. Cautions & Contraindications It’s best to avoid Side Plank if you have an injury to the ankles, hips, wrists, shoulders, or back. Also, check with your physician before practicing this pose if you experience unregulated high bloo...

Common Vasisthasana English Side Plank Pose Sanskrit Vasisthasana All Side Plank Pose, Vasisthasana, Sage Vasistha's Pose Level Intermediate Position Type Sanskrit Pronunciation Play Audio (Sorry, your browser does not support playing audio files.) Chakras Solar Plexus (Manipura Chakra) Doshas (Ayurveda) Pit ta Elements Fire Tags Are you a yoga teacher? List of • • • • • My Sequences Are you a yoga teacher? Try • • • • • • • • • • • • Side plank pose (Vasisthasana) is the perfect culmination of strength and flexibility. This pose addresses three main aspects of the body: balance, muscular strength, and stretching. In addition to being a great heart opener, this pose works wonderfully in improving the nervous balance. This pose is primarily included in The main benefits of the side plank pose include strengthening and toning of arms and shoulders. This practice improves core strength and builds balance. It also helps in toning the lumbar and coccyx region of the spine. It is one of the best ways to target and strengthen your obliques Finer Alignments: In this pose, the whole body is balanced only on one wrist and one foot using core strength. The entire body is straight from the tips of the toes to the face. It is essentially a whole body pose. Shoulders are engaged, hips are internally rotated, and the chest is active & open. Students must watch out for drooping hips, collapsing elbows and wrists, and loss of balance. Body balances on one side of the shoulders, wrists, foo...

• Type of pose: Arm balance • Benefits: Strengthens the arms, back, and core; improves balance How To • Begin in • Open your chest to the left as you place your left foot directly on top of your right foot. Keep your legs straight and flex both feet strongly. • Your left hip is stacked directly over your right. Both hips have a tendency to want to sag, so lift them energetically upward to counteract the pulltoward the floor. • Take your gaze up to your left fingertips. • After several breaths, return your left hand and foot to the floor to come back to a plank. Then do the pose on the other side. Side Plank Variation I. © Barry Stone If you have difficulty stacking the legs or keeping them lifted off the floor, a variation with more support for your lower body could be the answer. In this version, your bent leg acts as a sort of kickstand to keep you from tipping. How To • From • Roll onto the outer edge of your right foot and bring the left arm up toward the ceiling. • Flex your right foot and press into both feet to lift your hips. • Bring your gaze up to the left hand. • Take several breaths and then release the left hand to the floor. Step back to Downward Dog and repeat the pose with the right foot forward. Forearm Side Plank. Yuri_Arcurs/E+/Getty Images People with How To • Begin in Downward Dog. Lower both forearms to the floor coming to a • Shift forward to a plank with the forearms still on the floor. • Pivot on your right elbow, turning your right forearm paralle...

Side Plank Pose (Sage Vasistha’s Pose) Vasistha = most excellent, best, richest Vasistha was an ancient Indian sage (or series of sages), and was said to be the owner of Nandini, the “cow of plenty” who made him master of every desirable object. Notes The challenge of this pose is not one of flexibility, but instead how to maintain the neutral alignment of the spine and legs and the simple positions of the arms against the action of gravity. The asymmetrical relationship to gravity means that muscles have to work asymmetrically to create a symmetrical alignment of the body—essentially tadasana turned on its side. There are many ways that gravity pulls the body out of tadasana in this pose: The spine may twist, the hips may fall forward or the shoulders may fall back (or vice versa), the bottom scapula and bottom leg may both adduct, or the pelvis may fall to the floor. It’s easy to overcompensate by lifting the hips too high or to create lateral flexion of the spine in either direction by either giving in to gravity or overresisting it. Side plank pose is simple, but not easy.

Vasisthasana is a challenging asana that strengthens the abdomen, legs and arms. The name comes from the Sanskrit, vasistha, meaning “wealthy,” and asana, meaning “pose.” Vasishtha is also the name of several different yoga sages, including an author of Vedic hymns and one of the seven rishis. Vasisthasana is typically entered from straight-arm plank pose. Then the yogi lifts one arm toward the sky and rotates the body until it faces straight ahead. In this pose, the body should resemble a cross tilted on its side. Vasisthasana is also known as side plank pose in English. In Hinduism, Vasistha was a saint who possessed a divine cow. The cow's offspring could grant whatever its owners wished, which made Vasistha wealthy. This is why the Sanskrit word for "wealthy" is vasistha. This is an apt name for vasisthasana as it can help the yogi feel abundant in power and confidence in their yoga practice as it requires strong mental focus and balance. Vasisthasana assists in opening the anahata (heart) chakra as it opens the chest. This helps the yogi to feel more receptive to the serenity, love, balance and peace that is all linked to the anahata chakra. Vasishthasana is also believed to open the manipura (solar plexus or navel) chakra, which is associated with self-esteem, transformative power, decisiveness and confidence. In an advanced version of the pose (sometimes called eka pada vasisthasana), the upper leg is raised to the sky and the upraised hand holds the big toe. This v...

To come into this pose, from the plank pose the practitioner shifts the body weight towards one side by rotating the body and balancing it on the corresponding hand and foot. The alternate leg is pulled with the hand vertically up. The challenge and strength involved in this pose make it an intermediate asana. It focuses on strengthening the arms, shoulders, and core muscles. Besides these, it targets to improve spinal alignment and body balance. Read this step-by-step guide to perform vasisthasana and find physical as well as mental balance. Vasisthasana Meaning In Sanskrit, ” vasistha” refers to “wealthy” and “asana” means “pose”. It is appropriately named so since it provides abundant benefits to the yogi. it enriches the health by providing stability in mental and physical health. It is often known by its English name, side-plank pose. As the yogi performs the plank on one side of the body, opening the chest, hence the name. Mythological aspect leading to vasisthasana This asana is named after the great Indian sage, Vasistha who was the family priest of the Ikshwaku dynasty. Lord Rama was one of his disciples who once felt depressed after visiting the common people of his kingdom and their sufferings. This incident made Vasistha guide his disciple Rama towards the reality of life. He told him not to get trapped in the outside sufferings by getting control over the mind to feel liberated and self (the soul). It leads lord Rama to once again open his heart after the dark...

‍Vasisthasana is a balancing pose that helps you find alignment and strength within your body without putting in too much effort. This asana requires you to shift the whole weight of your body on one side. The weight has to be balanced with the help of one leg and one foot. The best part about this asana is that it offers a lot of benefits without demanding too much effort. If you are interested in learning side plank in yoga, this guide is for you. Here, we are going to cover Vasisthasana meaning, the benefits of Vasisthasana, precautions and safety tips, and much more. Read till the end so that you do not miss any point about this balancing asana. Vasisthasana Meaning The name of this asana comes from the Sanskrit language where “Vashistha” means “wealthy”, and “Asana” means “pose”. Adding all two words, we get the name of the side plank pose in Sanskrit. Apart from its literal meaning, you can also understand it like a yoga asana that makes you wealthy in terms of mental and physical health. Vasisthasana Benefits Here is a list of some Vasisthasana benefits that you get by practising the asana regularly: • When you do a side plank pose and balance your weight on one side, you put pressure on the muscles of your body and tone them. • To find the balance, you deeply engage your core muscles. Regular practice of side plank yoga pose will increase your core strength. • Side plank yoga improves your ability to concentrate and focus on the movements of your body. Prep Poses F...