Trikonasana - Triangle Pose- Deconstructed

                    

                                        The Triangle Pose - Trikonasana 

This week I have been giving some thought to the Triangle Pose, especially after a friend disclosed that part of her practice was to go into Trikonasana before properly warming up her hips, hamstrings, shoulders and spine - a big no-no in my book. So let’s delve into Trikonasana in some detail, shall we?

 Trikonasana, while considered to be a “foundational” pose, is not mentioned in the oldest yoga texts such as Hatha Yoga Pradipika and Gherand Samhita. It is first described in the 20th century in the teaching of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1934 book titled Yoga Makaranda), and - subsequently -  in texts written by his students. So while Trikonasana is close to 90 years old, it’s nowhere near the 600+ years of poses such as matsyendrasana, gomukhasana, paschimottanasana, padmasana or shavasana, to name a few of the 15 asanas mentioned in the 15th century seminal text Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

The benefits of Trikonasana are many - stretching muscles and ligaments, strengthening the core, toning spinal nerves and internal organs, relieving stress, anxiety and nervousness. 

BUT - and that’s a big BUT -  Trikonasana is a tricky, difficult, and challenging pose. A well-aligned Trikonasana requires the practitioner to possess flexible hamstrings, stretchy hips, groin and calves, strong abs, back muscles, thighs, ankles and knees, a nearly perfect range of motion in shoulders and the thoracic spine, and perfect spinal health. 

I always advise practitioners to warm their body up thoroughly before attempting Trikonasana, And, of course, anyone with a slipped or herniated disc or any sort of spinal health problem should not practice Trikonasana.

After we warm up head to toe, we pay attention to the following alignment cues: a wide-enough stance, front toes spread out, balancing on the inner front foot and outer back foot, aligning knee caps to toes, external rotation of the back thigh, extending out to side rather than bending down. 

Please skip Trikonasana practice altogether if you suffer from spinal issues, but I hope to see you in class, at least for the head-to-toe warmup and stretch.