asana: shishupalasana / hindolasana

yogabuch / asanas / shishupalasana – hindolasana

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Last updated: 25.04.2025
Trivial name: rock the baby
Level: A

Classification

Classical: hip opening
physiological: hip opening

Contraindication

In the case of disc problems, there is a possibility that the slightly rounded back will cause the known complaints again. The back should therefore be stretched as much as possible. If the back remains too hunched when the lower leg is extended, the lower leg should be placed in a cross-legged position.
This posture may be contraindicated in cases of knee joint pain, particularly damage or discomfort to the medial meniscus or collateral ligaments.

Effects

Preparation

Hardly any meaningful preparation can be given for these exercises, as they practise elementary movements, at best synergistic exercises:

Follow-up

derived asanas:

similar asanas:

Diagnostics (No.)

Instructions

  1. Sit in dandasana.
  2. Draw the right leg towards the body. Bend in the hip joint, bend in the knee joint and turn the leg out.
  3. Grasp the lower leg with both forearms and pull the leg towards the body.
  4. Optionally, the leg can be moved back and forth a little between further in (medial) and further out (lateral), which has earned this pose the English name „rock the baby“.

Details

  1. The leg drawn up to the body is essentially in the half lotus forward bend. The effect of the very wide flexion and very large exorotation in the hip joint in shishupalasana comes from the pull of the arms and not from the gravity of the upper body, which can be supported in the half lotus forward bend if necessary. Both postures are easy to dose, but the ardha padmasana will have a greater calming effect, as both legs are on the upper body and it is facing the floor. This difference is amplified by the fact that in shishupalasana it is necessary to use the strength of the hip flexors to keep the pelvis upright, which is achieved not only by the pull of the short hip extensors of the gripped leg, but also due to the pull of the ischiocrural group on the Tuber ischiadicum of the leg stretched out on the floor, which is anything but easy and effortless for many people. In addition, the autochthonous back muscles need some strength and endurance to keep the back stretched, which is likely to be all the more difficult the more inflexible the hip extensors are in their overall effect. In principle, a side-to-side comparison is possible in both postures, shishupalasana and half lotus forward bend. Due to the lack of necessity to keep the pelvis upright and the back stretched against the pull of the hip extensors and with force of the hip flexors, the side-to-side comparison in the half lotus forward bend can be more successful, as an observer can assess the position of the back in space in addition to the subjective sensation of the practitioner.
  2. In principle, this pose can also be performed lying down, which requires no work from the back muscles or the hip flexors. However, strong traction on the gripped leg can raise the pelvis caudally slightly and bend the lumbar spine, which can then become intolerable in the case of disc problems.
  3. Sitting on a chair is also possible. The advantage is that the effect of the ischiocrural group of the lower leg to tilt the pelvis backwards is eliminated, which will make it much easier to keep the pelvis upright and the back stretched.
  4. In all versions (sitting on the floor, lying on the floor, sitting on a chair), you can vary so that instead of both arms gripping the leg, the hand on the same side pushes the knee away while the other pulls the foot towards it. This allows a much better differentiation between promoting flexion and exorotation in the hip joint and a more effective exorotation in general. Ultimately, it is this component of movement, or rather its restriction, that primarily makes the lotus and cross-legged position a danger to the medial meniscus. It should be borne in mind that any traction on the foot represents a various stress in the knee joint, which can lead directly to discomfort in a previously damaged knee and, if used excessively, to knee damage. This is all the more the case because the simple construction (pull the foot in, push the knee away) cannot generate an additional exorotatory moment in the hip joint that relieves the inner knee. To do this, it would be necessary to continue to pull the foot in, but not to push the knee away, but to push the distal thigh away with a strong twist close to the knee. This would probably be the gentlest position for the knees, regardless of the three possible positions of the body in space (sitting on the floor, lying on the floor, sitting on a chair). Whether this is more tolerable for the knee joint than the hip opening 3 must be determined in each individual case.
  5. If the foot is pulled, this can pull the foot into wide supination, causing stretching of the outer ligaments and the fibular group. The latter can cause an intense stretching sensation, which is physiological for the time being; the former can be detrimental if the outer ligaments are damaged, for example as a result of supination trauma, and should be avoided. In this case, the distal lower leg can be used as a substitute.
  6. This posture is also known as hindolasana.