yogabuch / asanas / viparita karani
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viparita karani
instructions and details with working links as PDF for download/print
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last update: 12/30/2018
Name: viparita karani
Level: A
- Classification: A
- Contraindication
- Effects of
- Preparation
- follow-up
- derived asanas
- similar asanas
- diagnostics
- Instruction
- details
- Variants
Classification
classic: relaxation posture
Preparation
similar asanas:
Variants:
Instructions
- Lie with your bottom about 30 cm from the wall and lean your legs against the wall.
- Your feet will want to be a certain distance apart. Keep your legs completely relaxed. If this is not possible without bending the knee joints, increase the distance from the wall until this is possible.
- Place your arms completely relaxed at 20° – 30° next to your body.
- Release any remaining tension from all parts of the body, including the chewing and facial muscles.
Details
- Of course, many of the statements made about savasana also apply here.
- Viparita karani is somewhat reminiscent of the medical shock pose or the stepped bed pose, with which it actually has in common, when performed correctly, the relief of the lower back. While in savasana, hip flexors with limited flexibility pull the lumbar spine into a hollow back via their origins on theiliac bones(iliacus) and the lumbar spine(psoas major), the stepped bed pose and viparita karani provide relief by flexing the hip joints.
- The distance between the pelvis and the hamstrings should generally be approx. 30 cm with average flexibility. Distances that are too small – measured by their flexibility – would lead to a flexion ofthe knee joints and can be recognized by this; distances that are too large reduce the relaxing effect on the lumbar spine. One criterion for the lower limit of the distance is that the legs can remain stretched effortlessly, i.e. that the gravity-induced stretching moment in the knee joint due to the legs being inclined towards the vertical is not outweighed by the pull of the hamstrings.
- As in savasana, the body is completely passive and at maximum rest. For the legs in particular, this means that their position must be such that no effort at all is required to maintain their position. Depending on the exact flexibility of the hamstrings, various adductors, the gluteus maximus, the angle of the legs to the vertical and the mass of the legs, a flexion of a few degrees in the knee joint could occur. However, it would be desirable for the knee joints to fall into extension completely smoothly and without any major resistance.
- A rather rare case is that with a well-mobile hamstrings, the knee joints still fall into an uncomfortable hyperextension even if the distance between the buttocks and the wall has already been reduced to almost zero. In this case, an object such as a roll or rolled-up blanket or mat needs to be placed in the squat to limit or prevent hyperextension. In order for the legs to be stretched again effortlessly with this construction, the distance must be increased until this requirement is met. See the variant below.
- In addition to the parameter distance of the buttocks from the wall, the pelvis can also be placed on a small elevation. Of course, the elevation should not be so high that it creates a backbend for the upper lumbar spine/lower thoracic spine.
- As in savasana, the upper arms should also be exorotated from the shoulders and the forearms should be supinated. The hand has minimal tension and, depending on the tension of the relevant flexors, will close a little in relation to the stretched state. The palm of the hand tends to point towards the ceiling, depending on the degree of kyphosis of the thoracic spine, the head is slightly reclined, in which case the cervical spine can be straightened by supporting the head.
- When searching for the correct distance of the pelvis from the wall, the following estimation can help: as long as supta dandasana cannot be performed without tension in the rectus abdominis, the distance should not be less than 20 cm. However, it is also necessary to check whether any degree of tension is still required in the quadriceps in order to maintain the extension of the knee joint. Ultimately, it must be ensured that the summed moments resulting from the gravitational effect of the thigh and lower leg, which move the knee joint into extension relative to their respective punctum fixum (heel on the wall for the lower leg and hip joint for the thigh), outweigh the flexion moment in the knee joint resulting from the tension in the hamstrings. For those who tend to hyperextend the knee joint, a distance of the pelvis from the wall can be found at which the aforementioned moments exactly cancel each other out and the knee joint comes to rest at a 180° angle (0° flexion) in the balance of these forces/moments.
Variants
on bolster
Instructions
- Take the pose as described above, but place the pelvis on a not too thick bolster or on some blankets instead of on the floor.
Details
- As already described above, the elevation leads to a lower flexion anglein the hip joints, which can have a more relaxing effect on the rectus femoris, but also allows a slightly smaller distance from the wall due to the relief of the hamstrings. It also helps in cases where resting the sacrum on the floor is perceived as uncomfortable. However, the elevation should not be too high so that there is no significant concave curvature in the upper lumbar spine / lower thoracic spine.
Bolster between knee and wall
Instructions
- Take the pose as described above, but place a bolster between the knee and the wall to prevent the knee joint from hyperextending.
Details
- It may not be easy to find the correct distance between the pelvis and the wall. This is defined by three criteria:
- The knee joints can no longer hyperextend.
- There is no flexion in the knee joints.
- No tensing of the quadriceps is necessary to keep the knee joints extended.