asana: lying on roll

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„lying on roll“

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last update: 12/30/2018
Trivia name: Lying on roll
Level: A

Classification

classic: lying posture
Physiological: „chest opening“ (stretching of abdominal, intercostal muscles and shoulder blade protractors), ventral neck muscles

Contraindication

Effects

Preparation

Shoulder, frontal abduction:

  1. downface dog, in particular the „wide“ variant as a general stretch of the muscles of the shoulder joint.
  2. back stretching, especially the „raised “ variation as a general stretch of the shoulder joint muscles.
  3. rectangular handstand as a related pose
  4. Handstand as a related and synergistic pose
  5. Elbow stand as a related and synergistic pose
  6. Rectangular elbowstand as a related pose
  7. Dog elbow stand as a related and synergistic pose
  8. Hyperbola as one of the most effective and efficient stretches towards frontal abduction without external rotation of the arms
  9. Shoulder opening on the chair as one of the most effective and efficient stretches in the direction of frontal abduction with external rotation of the arms

Chest backbend:

  1. increased back stretching
  2. hyperbola
  3. upface dog

If your back is healthy, various backbends, e.g.

  1. urdhva dhanurasana
  2. ustrasana
  3. setu bandha sarvangasana

Wrap-up

If the pose causes the lower back to feel tense, prepare with:

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

If the pose makes the back in the thoracic spine feel very stiff and unable to move, carefully adjust the posture:

  1. karnapidasana
  2. squat 1

Derived asanas:

Similar asanas:

Diagnostics (No.)

(231)(234) Shoulder :

The flexibility of the shoulder can be recognized here, including side discrepancies, and there may be indications of disorders of the shoulder joint:

  1. Irritable hypertonus of the deltoid: ambitious beginners in yoga in particular tend to develop irritation in the deltoid, which is localized in the area of the muscle origins, presumably due to overstraining of the structures through frequent repetitive demands in full frontal abduction and is also noticeable under such stress, see FAQ.
  2. Various pathological changes in the shoulder joint such as impingement syndrome, frozen shoulder, calcification of the biceps tendon, which cannot all be discussed here and require clarification.
  3. side discrepancies in flexibility

(186) Neck:

The head clearly goes into reclination here. On the one hand, this shows the flexibility of the cervical spine in this direction; on the other hand, depending on the constitution and damage to the cervical spine, associated symptoms such as dizziness or neuroradicular symptoms may occur.

(671) Intercostal muscles, rectus abdominis:

Forced back extension of the thoracic spine reveals the flexibility of two important muscle groups:

  1. Rectus abdominis: the straight abdominal muscle pulls from the sternum towards the pubic bone and is stretched here. This can be felt in the event of restricted flexibility. This muscle is important for posture (straightening the pelvis), but also hinders inhalation if shortened.
  2. Intercostal muscles: the intercostal muscles contain two layers, one that supports inhalation and one for exhalation. Shortening of the intercostal muscles makes inhalation more difficult just as shortening of the rectus abdominis.

Other injuries or diseases of the chest can also become apparent here:

  1. Fractures and fractures of ribs
  2. pleurisy (inflammation of the pleura)
  3. Abdominal discomfort may indicate diseases of the intestines or mesentery

Variants:

Instructions

  1. Lie on your back on a roller at right angles to the spine with the highest line at the lower edge of the shoulder blades (angulus inferior).
  2. Lower your pelvis, shoulders and head.
  3. Cross your arms and let them sink behind your head.

Details

  1. The whole body is passive, similar to savasana; the only work is to keep the upper arms clasped with the contralateral hands.
  2. As the arms cannot be laid down with average flexibility in the thoracic spine and shoulders, the position indicated creates an additional bending moment in the vertebral segments and therefore more stretch in the rectus abdominis and intercostal muscles.
  3. Depending on the tension in the trapezius, it may be necessary to forcefully turn out the opposite upper arms with the hands in order to reduce the tendency to cramp in the trapezius. This is only ever possible on one side, but can also be done alternately.
  4. Stretch out from the shoulders (elevation of the shoulder blades) and passively lower the arms. Try not to actively move them towards the floor. When resting the back on the roller, note that the elevation shifts the position of the shoulder blades.
  5. Keep your buttocks and abdominal muscles soft. The legs turn out according to their natural muscle tension, the feet fall into plantar flexion and supination.
  6. Inhalation is naturally a little restricted in this pose. The arms pull the sternum cranially at the pectoralis major, whereas the rectus abdominis pulls the sternum caudally, so that the sternum is exposed to tension in both directions and the balance of the two pulling forces defines a new neutral position of the sternum in this pose, from which both inhalation and exhalation are more difficult and no longer fully successful. Nevertheless, breathe continuously and deeply enough without tensing other muscles in the body. To stretch the intercostal muscles, make sure that you breathe in deeply enough, as this should stretch the intercostal muscles and make breathing in easier in the long term.
  7. If there is tension in the lumbar spine, lift the pelvis briefly, push the buttocks away from the back and lower the pelvis again. If this is not enough, you can consider whether the buttocks need to be slightly supported/raised.
  8. If the resulting reclination of the head is too uncomfortable or dizziness occurs, support the head, but only as little as necessary. In principle, you should try to use this pose to promote flexibility of the ventral neck muscles. In addition, any support of the head reduces the effectiveness of the pose in the area of the thoracic spine.
  9. If the back feels stiff after leaving the pose and the spine no longer wants to bend forward, slowly begin to round the back again as tolerated, e.g. by trying to place the upper body round and passively on the thighs while sitting with the feet at a distance of approx. 40 cm; if the hip extensors are rather stiff, sit on an elevation such as a block or a shoulder rest.
  10. The lumbar spine may feel tense after the pose, see above for a remedy. The same applies to the cervical spine. If in doubt, see the first aid kit for the cervical or lumbar spine.
  11. The arms may fall asleep in the pose. This should normalize after one minute of leaving the pose. It can then be assumed that this is more likely to be a vascular effect, such as arterial thoracic outlet syndrome, which means that an artery was subjected to too much compression in the pose and the arm began to fall asleep due to insufficient supply. If there is no improvement after five minutes, there is a good chance that it is a neurological phenomenon originating in the neck or shoulder area that requires clarification.
  12. It may feel as if you can no longer get out of the pose; this is probably due to pressure and increased muscle tone in the back. Once you have managed to get out of the pose, start to gently bend your back again, see above.
  13. Typical roller diameters are between 10 cm and over 20 cm. If the largest diameter is not sufficient for good effectiveness and your pelvis, head and elbows are already fully supported on the floor, the roller can be placed on one or more folded mats or blankets, for example. Due to its compressibility, the blanket offers a certain, limited protection against rolling away, and the curved folds on both sides of a multi-folded mat also provide a certain degree of protection against this. The shoulderstand plate, on the other hand, has neither of these mechanisms and does not hold the roll in place in any way.
  14. When correcting the contact point, it is generally more favourable to move yourself on the roller than to try to move the roller under your back.

Known problems that can occur even with correct design

The arms fall asleep
see above

Perceived inability to leave the pose
see above

Perceived inability to round the back
see above

Feeling of tension in the lumbar spine, thoracic spine or cervical spine
see above