yoga book / asana / natarajasana

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Last update: 30 Dec 2018
Trivial name: Dancer
Level: A

Classification

classic: standing posture

Contraindication

Effects

• (711) Dehnung der Hip flexors
• (716) Dehnung des Rectus femoris
• (231) Dehnung zur Frontal abduction des Shoulder joint
• (246) Dehnung zur Retroversion im Shoulder joint
• (276) Dehnung zur Endorotation im Shoulder joint
• (862) Kräftigung der Supinatoren des Ankle joint
• (872) Kräftigung der Pronatoren des Ankle joint

Preparation

Prepare the frontal abduction in the shoulder joint with

1. Dog head down
2. Hyperbole
3. Increased back extension
4. gomukhasana
5. urdhva dhanurasana

For the simplified version with retroversion in the shoulder joint, prepare the following

1. purvottanasana
2. Shoulder stand
3. setu bandha sarvangasana

To stretch the rectus abdominis, prepare with

1. Dog head up
2. ustrasana
3. setu bandha sarvangasana
4. dhanurasana
5. urdhva dhanurasana
6. bhujangasana
7. Free backbend

To stretch the iliopsoas, prepare with

1. Dog head up
2. Hip opening 1
3. ustrasana
4. setu bandha sarvangasana
5. dhanurasana
6. urdhva dhanurasana
7. bhujangasana
8. 1st warrior

To stretch the rectus femoris, prepare with

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

To pre-activate the bridle system of the ankle, practise the

1. vrksasana
2. Warrior stance 3
3. hasta_padangusthasana sideways and forwards
4. eka on prasarita tadasana
5. parsvottanasana
6. parivrtta triconasana
7. ardha chandrasana
8. parivrtta ardha chandrasana

Follow-up

In order to reduce increased tone in the autochthonous muscles of the lumbar spine, exercise

1. parsva uttanasana
2. parsva upavista konasana
3. balasana / virasana Forward bend
4. parivrtta triconasana
5. parsvottanasana
6. karnapidasana
7. ardha_padmasana Forward bend

derived asanas:

similar asanas:

Diagnostics (No.)

(711) Flexibility of the hip flexors, especially the iliopsoas

In this posture, the hip joint of the lifted leg is required to be extremely flexible in the direction of extension. As the lifted leg is about half bent, it is not only the short hip flexors in the iliopsoas, the iliacus and the psoas major that play a role, but also the rectus femoris, but this is strongly dependent on the angle in the knee joint, see code 816. If the thigh of the lifted leg cannot or can barely be lifted into the extension of the pelvis without feeling a significant stretch in the rectus femoris, i.e. at around 0° hip extension, then there is a significant shortening of the iliopsoas. The knee eversion of the lifted leg is an evasive movement in the hip joint when wide extension is required, as the iliopsoas at the trochanter minor pulls the femur into exorotation and this is due to foot held by the hand or hands as a punctum fixum can only occur in combination with an abduction.

(816) Flexibility of the rectus femoris

In this posture, the hip joint of the lifted leg requires outstanding flexibility in the direction of extension. As the lifted leg is about half bent, it is not only the short hip flexors in the iliopsoas, the iliacus and the psoas major that play a role, but also the rectus femoris. The relative flexibility of the two hip flexors rectus femoris and iliopsoas varies slightly from person to person, but above all the rectus femoris limits the hip extension strongly depending on the flexion angle in the knee joint, the more flexed, the more. How far the knee joint of the lifted leg must bend so that the foot can be gripped depends not least on many other movements, that of the iliopsoas, that of the back and, above all, that of the shoulder joint in the direction of frontal abduction.

(231) (234) Shoulder joint: Frontal abduction

A lack of mobility of the shoulder joint in the direction of frontal abduction can be clearly seen here, as the grip on the foot is more difficult. However, this is not the only aggravating reason, lack of flexibility of the trunk in the direction of extension and of the hip joint, also in the direction of extension, contribute at least as much. also lateral differences. There may also be indications of diseases of the shoulder joint:

1. Irritable hypertonicity of the deltoid: Ambitious beginners in yoga in particular tend to develop irritation in the deltoid, which is localised in the area of the muscle origins, presumably caused by an overstraining of the structures due to frequently repeated demands in full frontal abduction and is also noticeable under the same strain, see FAQ.
2. Various pathological changes of the shoulder joint such as impingement syndrome, frozen shoulder, calcifications of the biceps tendon, biceps tendon tendinitis, subacromial syndrome, rotator cuff lesions, which cannot all be discussed here and require clarification.
3. Lateral differences in mobility

Depending on whether the foot is gripped exactly symmetrically or not, a laterally different mobility of the shoulder joint in the direction of frontal abduction may also be recognisable, for example by a slight twisting of the shoulder line in relation to the pelvis, whereby it must then be clarified whether both hips are at the same height, or by an unequal degree of flexion in the elbow joints. Non-parallel upper arms or forearms can also be an indication of this. In general, it can be said that the less flexible the shoulder joints are in this direction, the more the upper arms tend to deviate to the side, which can be easily recognised by the elbows, and the more they tend to turn in. Both evasive movements can only occur in combination, as the hands on the foot represent a punctum fixum for the movement in the shoulder joints.

Variants:

Instructions

1. Stand in tadasana and shift your weight onto your left leg.
2. Bend your right leg with your foot stretched out and raise your arm high up.
3. Raise your right arm above your head and turn your arm out. Bend your arm to grasp the instep of your foot with your hand.
4. Raise your left arm outstretched until it is horizontal, straighten your fingers and thumb, stretch your wrist and fingers.
5. Tilt the upper body further forwards in the hip joint of the leg to be able to lift the raised foot further.
6. Stretch the knee joint of the lifted leg as far as the frontal abduction of the arms allows and lift the upper body again.
7. Tilt your head back as you feel comfortable.

Details

1. Distribute the pressure evenly in the foot. The anatomical inclination corresponding to the minimal muscle tension clearly corresponds to a supination of the foot. As a result, you would only be standing on the outer foot, which corresponds to a very narrow physical support base of barely more than two centimetres and makes balancing much more difficult. If the metatarsophalangeal joint area is sufficiently pressed to the ground, the physical support base on the forefoot is many times wider, which makes balancing considerably easier. This is the work of the fibularis group as the lateral aspect of the ligament system of the ankle. The (rather moderate) strengthening of the medial aspect of the bridle system of the ankle results from the inevitable swaying around the centre line of the foot. If the central plumb line briefly moves medially from the centre line of the foot, the supinators of the ankle must counteract this by performing a small tilting movement in the direction of supination. This causes the distal tibia to move a little further laterally, which shifts the cavity accordingly. As a result, the fibuilaris group must work to tilt the ankle back towards pronation and push the distal tibia back towards medial for a mass shift. This describes the basics of the slight swaying movement around the centre line of the foot.

The overhead position of the arm with the need to move the hands backwards and downwards in order to grasp the foot easily leads to the arms being twisted in, as the restrictions of the endorotation frontal adductors of the shoulder joint and the latissimus dorsi later set a limit. This is a dangerous behaviour in unstable shoulder joints with a tendency to dislocation and must be avoided at all costs. The elbows must therefore be kept close together instead of wide apart, which leads to a higher position of the hands and greater difficulty in gripping the foot. This applies to the two-armed stance much more than the one-armed stance, as in the latter a certain rotation of the upper body – which is explicitly not part of the stance structure – can make the situation easier. When the foot is gripped, the hallux comes into reach first, followed by the forefoot. The foot must be pulled further upwards instead of further forwards.

When the thigh is moved upwards into extension in the hip joint, a tendency to spasm can occur in the ischiocrural group. The tendency is greater the more the knee joint is flexed and the more forcefully the leg is actively lifted. Improved flexibility of the iliopsoas makes it easier to lift the leg regardless of the angle in the knee joint and reduces the force that the ischiocrural group has to exert to lift the leg and therefore the tendency to cramp. This applies to the rectus femoris in a similar way, as although it is biarticular, the second covered joint, the knee joint, is also clearly flexed.

The iliopsoas causes a tendency for the lifted leg to rotate out and also abduct due to the foot being held. The rectus femoris, which passes the hip joint laterally, also causes an abduction moment in the hip joint. In addition to improving the flexibility of both muscles, only the endorotatory adductors of the hip joint help.

In principle, a tendency towards discomfort is possible in lateral knee joint of the lifted leg, as can occur similarly in dhanurasana and to a slightly lesser extent in setu bandha sarvangasana. It becomes stronger when the quadriceps of the lifted leg tries to stretch the knee joint more. In addition to improving the flexibility of the quadriceps, especially the rectus femoris, the main thing that helps is to allow the leg to abduct to a certain extent.

There is a tendency to lift the hip belonging to the raised leg in relation to that of the support leg. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the foot is then easier to grasp, and on the other hand, with further forward flexion in the hip joint of the leg, possibly also with the stretch sensation in the ischiocrural group of the leg, which decreases when the pelvis is lifted contralaterally, as is also known from parsvottanasana and parivrtta trikonasana.

When the hip joint of the leg is inflected, unlike in vrksasana, for example, there is no significant flexion of the knee joint of the support leg due to muscle tension.

Depending on the disposition, the muscles in the lumbar spine area can assume an uncomfortable hypertonicity, which is due to the significant hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine and the active work of the muscles in the shortest sarcomere length. Exercises to reduce tone beforehand, improving the flexibility of the hip flexors and strengthening the autochthonous muscles in the area are causally the three most important preparations to minimise the discomfort.

The difficulty of the variations can be assessed against each other: the most difficult is the position in which both arms grip the foot overhead, i.e. in the widest frontal abduction, while the variation in which one arm grips the foot in retroversion and the other points horizontally forwards is significantly easier. The belt can be used in both variants and, depending on the length used, can greatly simplify the variants.

Varianten

mit Retroversion

Instructions

1. Assume the posture as described above, but do not reach overhead to the foot, but rather in retroversion of the arm. Extend the other arm horizontally forwards.

Details

1. The retroversion grip to the foot is much easier for most people than the overhead grip. Nevertheless, the required retroversion is not available to all people, so that the hand cannot be brought up far enough to reach around the foot. In particular, less flexible frontal abductors of the shoulder joint make retroversion more difficult, including the monoarticular coracobrachialis, the monoarticular deltoid pars clavicularis and the biarticular biceps, which, in addition to retroversion, can also hinder extension of the elbow joint.

with belt

Instructions

1. Take one of the two variations described above, but first place a belt around the foot, which you can pull on with one or both hands, depending on the variation.

Details

1. Depending on the variant, the belt must be passed overhead (two-armed version) or can be gripped with the lower hand of the horizontal arm and pulled tight.