asana: dhanurasana

yogabook / asanas / dhanurasana

dhanurasana
„box“

  instructions and details with working links as PDF for download/print


Feedback: We’d love to hear what you think about this description, give us feedback at:
postmeister@yogabook.org
Last modified: 30.12.2018
Name: dhanurasana
Trivial name: downward bow
Level: FA

Classification

classical: pose ot the floor
physiological: strechtes the hip flexors and the abdominal, fosters retroversion in the shoulder joints muscles

Contraindication

This pose is contraindicated for facet syndrome, spondylolisthesis (spondylolisthesis) and spinal stenosis and can easily lead to the reoccurrence of the respective symptoms. The more restricted the flexibility of the hip flexors, the more this applies. Acute lumbago is also a contraindication in the first few days, at least until urdhva dhanurasana has been practised a few times without pain.

Effects

Preparation

Depending on tone and flexibility, the rectus femoris will be the limiting factor. Prepare it with :

  1. krouncasana
  2. ardha supta krouncasana
  3. supta virasana
  4. quadriceps stretch 1 on the wall
  5. quadriceps stretch 2 on the wall

The following poses are particularly suitable for warming up the shoulder muscles:

  1. upface dog as a pose that prepares the shoulders for powerful work, especially through correctly executed transitions from and to downface dog
  2. purvottanasana if the tone in the deltoids is too high or has become too high due to preparation

Practise the retroversion of the arms required here:

  1. purvottanasana („8 treasures“)
  2. shoulder stand
  3. setu bandha sarvangasana

An excessive hollow back in this pose often indicates shortened hip flexors. The following poses can be practised to stretch the hip flexors. For the risks of a hollow back, see the FAQ:

  1. hip opener 1
  2. hip opener 2
  3. warrior 1 pose
  4. upface dog
  5. urdhva dhanurasana (back arch)
  6. ustrasana (camel)

and other backbends with extension in the hip joint.

Stretching the rectus abdominis muscle is also a useful preparation:

  1. upface dog
  2. ustrasana
  3. urdhva dhanurasana
  4. setu bandha sarvangasana
  5. bhujangasana

If the lumbar spine area is prone to discomfort or the tone of the muscles in the lumbar spine is currently too high, this can be practised in advance:

  1. parsva uttanasana
  2. virasana forward bend (child’s pose)
  3. parsva upavista konasana
  4. parivrtta trikonasana
  5. parsvottanasana
  6. half lotus forward bend
  7. karnapidasana

Follow-up

What was suitable before the pose to reduce the tone of the back muscles in the lumbar spine is also suitable after the pose if too much tension has built up in the lumbar spine muscles:

  1. parsva uttanasana
  2. virasana forward bend (child’s pose)
  3. parsva upavista konasana
  4. parivrtta trikonasana
  5. parsvottanasana
  6. half-lotus forward bend
  7. karnapidasana

Derived asanas:

Similar asanas:

geometrically: ustrasana

Diagnostics (No.)

(711) Hip flexors

An excessive hollow back in this pose usually indicates shortened hip flexors. A sharp (seen from behind) concave curvature of the lumbar spine would then be observed, often with an otherwise less flexible back, sometimes even in conjunction with a residual thoracic spine kyphosis in this pose.
Also with shortened hip flexors the extension in the hip joint required for this pose would be absent. For the risks of a hollow back, see the FAQ. Helpful are then:

  1. hip opener 1
  2. hip opener 2
  3. warrior 1 pose
  4. upface dog
  5. urdhva dhanurasana (back arch)
  6. ustrasana (camel)

and other backbends with extension in the hip joint.

(293) Excessive tension in the trapezius:

Although the arms in this pose are not in frontal abduction but in the opposite movement (retroversion), the trapezius may have a tendency to cramp. It is probably one of the most tense muscles in Western civilisation. Internal and external posture, including today’s widespread VDU workstations, contribute significantly to this. If the trapezius in dhanurasana shows a tendency to cramp after only a short time, it must be assumed that the tension is excessive.

(230) Shoulder:

The flexibility of the shoulder in the direction of retroversion can be recognised here, including side discrepancies, and there may be indications of shoulder disorders:

  1. Various pathological changes of the shoulder joint such as e.g. subluxation, frozen shoulder, calcifications of the biceps tendon, biceps tendinitis, subacromial syndrome, rotator cuff lesions, which cannot all be discussed here and require clarification.
  2. side discrepancies in flexibility.

(650) Kyphosis and lordosis of the spine:

An excessive hollow back would clearly visible here, especially in connection with a less flexible thoracic spine. See the FAQ.

(811) Hip flexors:

The flexibility of the hip flexors is clearly visible due to the required hip extension in this pose. These include those in the pelvis, i.e. the iliopsoas, but also the rectus femoris due to the bent knees.

(704) Hip joint:

Damage to the hip joint could become apparent under the wide extension:

  1. Arthrotic/osteoarthritic change (degenerative with cartilage atrophy) of the joint
  2. Arthritis (joint inflammation) of various kinds
  3. Dislocation / subluxation, which would cause a significantly increased sensation of tension in various muscles covering the hip joint
  4. Joint trauma, which may cause pain in the joint even after many weeks or months

(885) Knee joint:

In this pose, knee problems associated with wide flexion under a certain load (and an extension movement in the knees) are very well revealed. These can be, for example: traumatic or degenerative meniscus damage, arthrosis, retropatellar events such as chondropathia patellae or retropatellar arthrosis/oestoarthritis, arthritis, subluxations, ligament damage, plica syndromes and others, see the FAQ.

(921) Foot / ankle

In this pose, an extension deficit of the ankle joint in the sense of plantar flexion is visible. An indication of this and of increased tension in the muscles of the sole of the foot may be a tendency to cramp occurring there. Also deficits in the foot or akle joint may become visible, be it pain due to malposition following supination trauma und instability.

(913) Cramp in the muscles of the sole of the foot or calf:

In this pose, the sole of the foot is compressed, cramps in the intrinsic muscles in the sole of the foot can indicate previous (also chronic) overloading or incorrect loading and shortening of the musculature. Highly toned calf muscles can also be prone to cramps.

Variants:

with belt

Instructions

  1. Lie in prone position. Bend your knees and reach with your hands to the sides of your feet or ankles (see details).
  2. Press the pubic tuberosities onto the floor using the strength of the gluteal muscles. Continue to work the gluteus maximus hard to maximise extension in the hip joints so that the lumbar spine is not forced excessively into hyperlordosis.
  3. Stretch the knee joints to pull the upper body upwards and backwards with the arms at the feet. The back muscles support this as a spinal extensor.
  4. Tilt your head back as far as possible.

Details

  1. Moving the head in the direction of reclination (towards the back) promotes the backbend of the upper body. However, there may be reasons (cervical spine problems, tendency to develop tension headaches in the neck muscles) to refrain from this head movement.
  2. As with all backbends, vigorous work of the gluteus maximus – not in the sense of squeezing sideways, but promoting extension in the hip joints, i.e. longitudinal contraction – is important for the well-being of the lower back.
  3. Move the shoulder blades backwards and inwards, i.e. in depression and retraction.
  4. Major movement restrictions in the hip flexor muscles may make this exercise impossible. They are easy to diagnose with the hip flexor flexibility test and hip opener 1.
  5. Both arms are stretched in this position and turn out. The optimum grip on the legs should be on the lower legs directly above the ankle; gripping the feet can lead to cramping of the muscles in the sole of the foot. Furthermore, the ankle joint does not always have full flexibility in the direction of plantar flexion, so this can be an additional difficulty, both geometrically and in terms of a potentially intense stretching sensation in the dorsiflexors of the foot, which restricts the use of then strength of the arms.
  6. As with all backbends, make sure that the knees do not move further than hip-width apart. If necessary, use a belt around the thighs directly above the knees to ensure this.
  7. Sometimes knee pain occurs when pulling on the feet. From an anatomical point of view, weight on knees that are bent significantly more than 90° in preexisting conditions of the knees is not particularly tolerable for the knees, but this is especially true for heavier loads and dynamic activities. In absolute terms, pulling on the feet is not a dangerous load for the knees. The discomfort mostly is localised in the outer knee, sometimes also exactly ventral or retropatellar. This is probably the result of compression of the outer knee by external rotation moments from two strong muscle groups:
  8. It is not uncommon for the pressure on the pubic tuberosities to be perceived as uncomfortable. Of course, softness mediators such as blankets, mats, patches and shoulder support plates can be used here.
  9. This pose is not only externally similar to the hip flexor flexibility test. In contrast to this, here the upper body is raised as high as possible, which can lead to the knees moving further away from the floor than in the hip flexor flexibility test.
  10. Even though this is a pose with maximum extension in the hip joints, its effect on stretching the hip flexors is likely to be significantly less powerful than that of urdhva dhanurasana, setu bandha sarvangasana or ustrasana, for example. The reasons for this lie on the one hand in the work against gravity and on the other hand in the use of the upper limb, particularly in a less powerful position, retroversion. In addition, the grip strength of the hands with which the ankles are gripped may be limited. In addition, as described above, the sensitivity of the knee often limits the use of force and therefore the effect of the pose. Furthermore, according to the force-length function of the muscles, the quadriceps cannot develop much strength in short sarcomere lengths. This is where ustrasana and urdhva dhanurasana are clearly superior.

Variants

with belt

Instructions

  1. Tie a belt around your thighs close to your knees so that the belt holds them together at hip width.
  2. Take the pose as described above.

Details

  1. The belt prevents the slight deviation into abduction. In view of the three-dimensional flexibility of the hip joint, in which a strong extension is performed here, this is the most important evasive movement. The other possible evasive movement is external rotation, which can lead to the above-mentioned pain in the outer knee. At the same time, the belt limits the rotation somewhat by rubbing against the skin or clothing. This can lead to a greater tendency for the knee to feel discomfort in the outer knee.
  2. The belt must of course be fitted before the initial prone position. The easiest way to do this may be to sit on your bottom with your knees bent and your feet up.