asana: samakonasana

yogabuch / asanas / samakonasana

samakonasana
„side splits“

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last update: 12/30/2018
Name: samakonasana
Trivial name: Side splits
Level: A

Classification

classic: seated posture

Contraindication

Effects

Preparation

Even if the pelvis does not tilt backwards as obviously as in upavista konasana due to flexibility restrictions in the hamstrings, good flexibility is still required here. Prepare for this with:

  1. uttanasana as a generally effective and efficient stretch of the hamstrings to prepare for flexion in the hip joints when assuming this pose
  2. prasarita padottanasana very similar to uttanasana
  3. parsvottanasana as a stretch that goes beyond uttanasana
  4. Head down dog is also a good preparation for the hamstrings when the pelvis is tilted powerfully
  5. hip opener 5 as a very effective stretch for the hamstrings that goes beyond uttanasana
  6. warrior 3 pose
  7. trikonasana
  8. parivrtta trikonasana
  9. parivrtta ardha chandrasana

The other cardinal prerequisite is, of course, exceptionally good flexibility of the adductors, including and especially the gracilis. The most important preliminary exercises are

  1. upavista konasana THE preliminary exercise
  2. trikonasana
  3. ardha chandrasana
  4. hip opener 4

Post-exercise

derived asanas:

similar asanas:

Diagnostics (No.)

(650) Kyphosis and lordosis of the spine:

The deviations from the physiological double-S shape of the human spine become quite visible in this posture, especially as the influences from the legs, especially the hamstrings and the hip flexors but also the monoarticular hip extensors on the upper body are minimal and the spine can straighten with greater ease and largely uninfluenced. There should be a certain degree of lordosis (convex spine from the front) in the lumbar and cervical spine and a certain degree of kyphosis (convex spine from the back) in the thoracic spine, but this can also be eliminated for samakonasana. See the FAQ for more information.

(611) Pelvic obliquity/unequal shoulder height/scoliosis of the spine:

The lateral deviations of the spine from the median plane known as scolioses are also quite visible in this pose, especially as with the ischial tuberosities on the floor, influences of a leg length difference are excluded. See the FAQ.

(704) Hip joint:

The widely exorotated, abducted postures and movements in particular trigger pain in the case of existing hip damage:

  1. Arthrotic change (degenerative with cartilage atrophy) of the joint
  2. Arthritis (joint inflammation) of various kinds
  3. Perthes‘ disease in children or in general and hip dysplasia can react to this posture
  4. Dislocation / subluxation, which would cause a significantly increased sensation of tension in various muscles covering the hip joint
  5. joint trauma suffered, which may cause pain in the joint even after many weeks or months

(751)(756) Adductors:

In this pose, the adductors are stretched. This can be used to detect damage to them:

  1. Shortening
  2. Irritation of the tendons at the origins and insertions, which manifests itself in pulling pain with an elongated course. These are insertional tendinopathies, e.g. gracilis syndrome, but also pes anserinus syndrome.
  3. Tension that causes an agonizing feeling in the muscles that goes far beyond normal stretching
  4. Tearing/partial tearing/tearing of adductor muscles, which, in the event of a tear, impress with a loud noise, possibly followed by hematoma formation and swelling
  5. side discrepancies in flexibility are difficult to detect here. The supta upavista konasana is much better suited to this.

Variations:

with wall

Instructions

  1. Assume upavista konasana.
  2. Slowly increase the angle until you have reached 180°.
  3. There are several options for the hands: they can be folded into namaste, placed on the thighs or supported behind the pelvis.

Details

  1. Samakonasana is achieved by consistently practicing upavista konasana. As explained there, one way is to practise the posture against the wall and to lift the pelvis further towards the wall each time the stretch decreases a little. For the last few degrees, blocks need to be placed between the wall and the feet, as otherwise you won’t be able to fit your hand in front of the pelvis to lift it forwards. In principle, it would also be possible to lift the pelvis forwards with the hands behind the pelvis, but this gives you less control over the movement.
  2. The extended angle of 180° can be determined by the inside of the leg or, which is anatomically more precise and corresponds to a larger real angle, by the line of the hip joint, knee joint and ankle joint, which are in the so-called Mikulicz line when the leg is extended, i.e. in line. If the knees and ankles are in line when standing with closed feet, the Mikulicz lines of both legs diverge from the feet towards the upper body, which means that the 180° angle of the Mikulicz lines is different from that of the inside of the legs. Another point of reference for the 180° angle would be the femur (thigh bone) and tibia(shin bone). However, the course of the femur can only be roughly guessed, as it bends at a 120° angle to the neck of the femur; the femur and tibia are not in line, but form a physiological angle of 174°.
  3. Samakonasana (and a wide upavista konasana as well) is probably the pose with the easiest spine to keep straight. This is a cardinal requirement for meditation postures, but another important requirement, that a meditation posture must be stable, speaks very strongly against samakonasana and upavista konasana. These are very unstable. The body weight is largely centered on the ischial tuberosities and only the slightest movements of the body or arms are needed to change this balance and the point on which you are sitting or to tilt you. Furthermore, in samakonasana, unlike in padmasana, the legs are supported neither ventrally nor dorsally, whereas in padmasana they are at least supported ventrally.
  4. The legs are held as in tadasana, knee joint extended (do not stretch with force ), inner feet stretched out just as much as the outer feet, i.e. neither pronation nor supination and the heel stretched out (here too: do not stretch with force). A single stretch of the heel is usually sufficient, continuous work of the foot lifting muscles is not desirable.

Variants

with wall

Instructions

details

  1. As already described in upavista konasana, the pose can be performed against a wall with a block between the foot and the wall so that the pelvis can be lifted and moved further towards the wall. With good flexibility, there would otherwise not be enough space to press one hand in front of and one hand behind the pelvis on the floor in order to lift the pelvis. Typically, the long edge of the block lies against the wall and thus offers the possibility of going a little beyond 180°.