Dandasana, staff pose

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi,

I’ve been practicing yoga for ten months, once a week (1h30).
My question is about staff pose : I have to sit on a block and have my knees bent to avoid rounding my back, and even there I feel like I have to make great efforts to hold the pose, as if the only thing my back wanted to do was rounding. Teacher tells us to release our head and bend forward, relaxing.
But to me, it’s a hard time trying not to round my back and breathing (I feel like I’m cut in two parts, just under the floating ribs)
My question is : what makes it so difficult for me to do this pose? What other poses can I practise to help in Dandasana?
Thanks a lot:)

Hanna

#2

Hi, Hanna! Welcome to the forums.
At first blush it sounds like your hips stay pitched back even while your shoulders and ribs try to move forward. Your teacher is going to be in the best position to see what’s going on (since (s)he gets to see you).
How are your other forward bends? Are you on speaking terms with your hamstrings?

#3

Hi,

I’ve no problems with other forward bends, as long as it’s not seated forward bends :smiley: At first, I tought it was because of my hamstrings being too tight, but I can bend forward with a straight back far more further than when seated, if standing.
When in Dandasana, with a block or a blanket (in my best days:)) under my sit bones, and my knees bent, I feel comfortable, but when it’s time to bend forward it becomes impossible, I feel like I’m ‘stuck’.

#4

There’s another side to a forward bend I’ve seen mentioned on the forums – others who have studied will chime in, I’m sure. The upshot is, with a standing forward bend you have gravity to lower your torso. With other bends you need to use a muscle or two to get your legs and your torso near each other. Without strength in those muscles this isn’t going to happen.
Is your class welcoming to individual questions like this? (“Umm, what’s going on here? I’m experiencing x.y.z…”)

#5

Thank you for your answer, it sounds silly but I hadn’t thought of gravity:p
So it would explain why I feel like I have to strengthen my back and quads so much, and why I shake like I’m going to explode:rolleyes:
My teacher is really nice, problem is me being so shy (I suffer from panic attacks, I’m really anxious when it comes to talk to someone I don’t know, thank you Internet:D) Well, I guess I’ m gonna have to deal with it and talk to her:)

#6

Yep, yoga has a way of reaching you where you are. Let us know how it goes!

#7

Try to take personal classes. This is what I did. And because my teacher needs my example for her certification (postural analysis, and personal instructions based on that) I got away quite cheap. Downside - she is not that experienced, but she’s the best I could find in my area, and quite promising. I mean she knows what she’s doing, and certainly a lot more than I do.

#8

A rounded lower back in dandasana (staff pose) is most often a result of weak hip flexors (usually psoas) and/or tight hamstrings. It’s hard to tell via the web. Please consult with your teacher.

For strengthening your hip flexors, stand with your back to the wall and raise one knee as high as possible (repeat 6 - 12 times, alternate legs). Or go into cat/cow pose and try to touch your knee to your nose (repeat, alternate legs). For stretching your hamstrings, intense side stretch (parsvottanasana) is very effective. Be patient and enjoy the process.

#9

Thank you Willem and Hubert,

I’m gonna try to work on those muscles, tell you in a few months!

#10

Hello Hanna,

Less than a year of asana practice and in what style please? What is your general condition, age, fitness and activity level?

You’ve mentioned your hamstrings are not at issue. Please, what are you using to make this determination?

Is this pose you are working on Dandasana or is Danda used as a beginning position to enter Paschimotanasana?

The ability for students to bend forward - with integrity - is facilitated by mobility in the pelvis. There are those things which affect the pelvic orientation in the front body and similar fellows in the back body. The “rounding” of the spine occurs in the thoracic spine which is already innately curved in that direction. For many, the issue is the hamstrings and the quadratus lumborum, a muscle in the lower back. However muscles work in synergies so isolating one is rarely accurate or effective.

The purpose of a folded blanket or pad under your sitting bones - not a block please as it does not provide the landscape or stability for this - is to tip the pelvis forward (or anteriorly, as my lovable, but narcissistic, anatomy chums would write). That tip is and should be the genesis for forward bending.

If the student feels as though they will “shake like they are going to explode” it seems like an intervention on the part of the teacher is more than warranted. Perhaps you do not take enough height. More likely though is that you haven’t (yet) cultivated in your body that which is needed for Paschimotanasana. It’s no crime but such a student should be guided toward other work so that the proper actions can be nurtured.

Finally, if you are an anxious person understand that there is a certain nature of surrender in forward bending poses and that might be a catalyst for a great deal of resistance on your part. That resistance can manifest itself in the mind and the body in a myriad of ways. Ergo it is best to find the joy of light in the yoga clothing you choose, place your mat near the front of the class, and emerge from the shrubbery enough to engage in dialogue with your teacher :slight_smile: If that is not fruitful then perhaps it’s time to mine a different jewel.

#11

Thank you InnerAthlete,

I’m 23, good condition,not especially flexible, and I attend mixed level classes (my teacher adapts level of poses depending on your level and condition).
I’ve practiced Kripalu yoga at first, for 8 months, and then Ashtanga-Iyengar mix, if I can say so.
What I feel is that several muscles in my legs and back are ‘too short’, so I can not take height.
Problem is I don’t know how to improve myself to do Dandasana properly, and feel good doing it (because right now it’s ‘Oh no, please not Dandasana again’:rolleyes:)
I think I’m gonna ask my teacher next time (Yes I can:-D), it’s gonna be a lot easier to explain than on Internet, given that I don’t know the names of all muscles, I’m gonna show her.
Thank you again!

#12

Hanna,

is this the pose we are discussing?

gordon

#13

Hi,

Yes it is Dandasana we’re talking about. I didn’t know bending forward, beginning in Dandasana, was another asana (I know it’s not logical:rolleyes:, I’m a beginner I’m learning:D)
So definitely yes, Dandasana is my problem (I’ve tried to bend forward, beginning in Dandasana, but at my level right now, I can’t bend correctly).
Just being seated in Dandasana, with a straight back, is difficult, unless I lean my back against a wall, knees bent.