Dandayamana bibhaktapada paschimottanasana! This posture is not only the most fun posture to say the name in Sanskrit, but also a phenomenal stretch for your hamstrings, hips and spine.

Because of the upside-down position, this pose provides increased circulation to the brain, nasal cavities and adrenal glands. It decompresses the spine, relieving pressure on the intervertebral discs and the spinal nerves (including the sciatic nerve) as well as having a pretty incredible effect on your cardiovascular system (see below...) 

Check out our video about how adjusting the size of your step can help you get the most out of this one:

Have you heard of a baroreflex? "Baro" comes from the Greek baros, meaning pressure or weight. So the baroreflex is one of your body's mechanisms which helps maintain blood pressure at nearly constant levels. When you hang upside down in Standing Separate Leg Stretching, baroreceptors in your arteries sense that blood pressure to the head is elevated, and this starts a rapid feedback loop which causes the heart rate to lower and blood pressure to decrease to a more normal level.

Lower heart rate and lower blood pressure is associated with a calming sensation in the body, amirite? Which, if you think about it, means the placement of this pose in our series is simply genius! I mean, you just completed Balancing Stick pose, which got your heart beating out of your chest. And you're just about to do Triangle pose... But first, you get to do Standing Separate Leg Stretching, to bring your blood pressure and heart rate down, so by the time you hit Triangle you're operating on a much more even keel. Wow!

What if you have sciatica?
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In this pose, a special consideration for those with active sciatica is that the feet should not be "slightly pigeon-toed." They should be parallel to one another, or even a little turned out. This takes pressure off the sciatic nerve during the pose.

As Bikram yoga teachers, so many students tell us this one is their "nemesis!" And we get it. SHTK not only requires you to use a ton of physical strength and stamina to develop your own flexibility, it also calls upon 110% of your will power, integrity and mental fortitude to stick with it, try the right way and not give up. The good news is, by using those aspects of your body and of your character you are building them up, and they (like this posture) will only get better with practice.

Health benefits include:

• Raises heart rate to improve cardiovascular fitness
• Tones legs muscles, especially inner thighs and quadriceps
• Stretches hamstrings, shoulders lower back
• Improves abdominal strength
• Interlocked finger grip strengthens fingers and hands
• Locking the knee strengthens the muscles which support the knee joint
• Promotes self discipline, determination, concentration, patience and faith

How to do:
Standing Head to Knee can be best understood by dividing it into a progression of stages or steps. Keep in mind that while we identify 4 main "steps" in the posture, there are a bazillion mini-steps along the way, and any one of the steps may take you weeks, months or years to master. For example, between grabbing your foot and locking both knees, you may find your maximum expression of the posture somewhere in-between for quite some time. No worries: as long as you try the right way and you don't give up, that's the ultimate destination!

• Step 1: Grab your foot. Shift your weight onto the standing leg and grab the (soon to be) kicking leg foot in front of you with all 10 fingers interlocked. Hold underneath the ball of the foot, about 3 inches below the toes. Don't lose this grip. Your kicking leg knee should be bent, the heel should be directly below the knee, and the thigh should be a bit above parallel to the floor. How high your thigh is will depend on your anatomy. Be sure your head is up so you can focus one point on your standing knee in the mirror, without straining the neck too much. Lock the knee to the best of your ability.*
• Step 2: Kick. From Step 1, inhale and slowly, gently extend the kicking leg heal toward the mirror, keeping your toes turned back toward your face. Keep kicking the heel forward until your both knees are locked and your legs form an upside-down "L" shape. Don't lose your grip. Let your shoulders be pulled forward by the strength of your kick, and you will get a great stretch for your shoulder muscles in this 2nd step. The feeling should not be that your arms are holding up the leg- but rather that the kicking leg is pulling your shoulders forward. Note: You do not need to wait until your standing knee is locked before you begin to kick! In fact, if your standing knee has to bend a bit for you to achieve Step 1, kicking out even a little bit may actually allow you to lock it all the way. And it will definitely take some pressure out of your lower back.
• Step 3: Bend your elbows. Only if both knees are locked and you can balance there comfortably, start to bend your elbows down toward the floor until your elbows touch your calf muscle. Try to get them to go below your calf muscle! This 3rd step stretches the hamstrings, shoulders and lower back a lot. Be sure not to lose your grip, and continuously keep kicking your heel toward the mirror while you bend your elbows down.
• Step 4: Forehead to knee. In the beginners class, we only practice this step during the 2nd set of SHTK. If your elbows are touching your calf with both knees locked, slowly bring your body down, chest down, head down, round your spine to look at your stomach and touch your forehead on your knee. Shifting the focus of your eyes like this is supremely challenging! Be sure to keep kicking the kicking leg forward and locking both knees continuously to create a solid foundation.

*You want me to lock my knee??
Yes. But let's make sure you understand what we mean by that. In Bikram yoga, to "lock the knee" means 3 things: Straight leg (full extension of the knee joint) + thigh muscles (including quads) contracted + body weight even on the foot. Check out our post on the subject for more!

Eyes and abs!
Balancing on one foot is a big challenge for many beginners. Remember that your 2 best friends on your "balance team" are your abs and your eyes. So always keep your abdominal muscles pulled in firmly, and maintain your one point of focus on your standing knee throughout the posture.

Breathe normally
Breathing properly is key. If you’re working on Step 1, simply breath normally with an engaged core. If you are kicking out into Step 2, inhale slowly by the nose while you kick your leg forward. Take another deep inhale when your both knees are locked and exhale as you bend your elbows down for Step 3. Take another deep breath and slowly exhale again as you tuck your chin to your chest for Step 4. This focused breathing keeps you calm and maintains oxygen moving through your body to feed your muscles. It also assists with the stretching and rounding of your spine and ribs.

Enjoy!
Finally, the real secret to mastery of Standing Head to Knee is: attitude. Relish every step of the magical journey, because every step has something to offer your body, mind and soul. And more than anything, this posture demands that you activate and cultivate the connection between those! That's part of what makes it so tough, and that's also what makes it so... yoga.

Once all major joints of the body have been warmed up by practicing Pranayama breathing and the first few postures, you are ready for Eagle pose, garudasana! This pose opens up the joints of the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and wrists.

By twisting your limbs "like ropes" Eagle pose creates compression of blood and lymph flow headed to spots like your legs, kidneys and the lymph nodes in your armpits. Hold the posture very still while breathing calmly, so that when you release it your elevated heart rate will send a boost of high-speed circulation to those areas. Notice a white mark on your thigh after you come out of Eagle? That's a good indicator that you’ve been maintaining a strong compression.

What's that you say? Your arms won't twist like ropes? Here's a quick video on what to do for this (very common) "issue"...

Now that we've cleared up what to do with those pesky arms, here are a couple key aspects of Eagle pose and more tips to help you get the most out of your efforts:

Using leverage to promote good alignment and open joints.
When you move your knees to the right and upper body to the left to get your feet, knees, elbows and hands in one line, you are using the leverage of one limb against to create the compression effect I mentioned above and open up your major joints. The key to not falling over while you make these adjustment is keeping your (especially lower) abdominal muscles tight and your upper body lifted away from your thighs.

It's a backbending pose!
Many beginners tend to lean or even hunch their bodies forward while they're setting up their Eagle, in an effort to pull their elbows down. Don't let this happen to you! Keep your upper body (when you hear the cue "upper body" in class, think mainly lower ribs upward) leaning back throughout the posture, which means (although you'll end up looking straight ahead) your spine is actually in a backward bending position. This position strengthens back and core muscles, releases tension in your lumbar spine, and compresses the kidneys.

Pro Tips:

• If you can't move your knees right and upper body left, you might be sitting down too low. Try coming up a little bit and try again!
• Turning your thumbs toward your face and little fingers toward the mirror will help you straighten out the wrists.
• Don't fret if your elbows don't ever go below your nose. It's the intention of pulling your elbows down that gives you that amazing stretch in the shoulders, which is the whole point to this instruction.

As the first posture in the Bikram yoga class, the job of Half Moon pose (ardha chandrasana) is to get your spine feeling out its range of motion in a bunch of directions, right off the bat.

By stretching up out of your waist, then slowly bending your upper body to the right while pushing your hips to the left beyond your perceived flexibility, you will create an incredible stretch down the side of your body. This side-bending action either stretches or tones every muscle in the torso, increases the lateral flexibility of the spine, opens up the hips and trims the waistline. Oh, what a feeling- and then you get to do it to the left!

TIP: Half moon is the very first posture in the class, so there's no need to push it super hard, especially in the first set! Your body is not quite warmed up yet, so "take it easy, honey." Remember that the first set of every pose is diagnostic- it helps you figure out where your body is in the present moment. Second set is therapeutic- based on what you discovered in the first set, you decide whether to push a bit further, or back off a little more. Your breathing is an excellent indicator of which way to adjust- if you really can't keep your breathing normal (like you're watching TV) then you've done too much! Back off.)

Once we have stretched to both sides, the third part of Half Moon is backward-bending.  Your instructor will warn you, "Your back is going to hurt, don't be scared!"

PSA: That doesn't mean that if a part of your body screams in sharp pain, that we think you should push through it! Not at all. This statement is simply a "heads up" that it's normal for the backbend to be uncomfortable- or even "hurt," in the sense of "ouch, I don't usually use those muscles!"

Backbending can be a pretty uncomfortable position at first. It requires you to simultaneously use a lot of strength in your legs, hips and back while also relaxing the neck and stretching the arms and shoulders back as far as you can. The challenge (and any "hurt") is worth it though, because this first backbend is unbeatable at warming up the back muscles and de-stiffening (that's a technical term!) your spine for class, while opening the heart and chest. Be sure to keep your eyes open, so you don't get dizzy.

At this point you have moved your spine straight up, side to side, and backward. Next comes Hands to Feet pose (padha hastasana.) This forward-folding posture continues to stretch the spine while beginning to work on stretching the sciatic nerve, muscles, tendons and ligaments of the legs.

TIP: If you can't grab your heels from behind, bend your knees and try wrapping your elbows behind your calves. Then hold the backs of your ankles and start to straighten out the legs, keeping your grip by keeping pressure with the palms against the ankles. Eventually, you may be able to grab underneath your heels- for now just get as close as you can!

Besides the tremendous stretching, Padha hastasana also helps improve overall circulation to the legs, sends a nice rush of blood to the head, and strengthens biceps, lattisumus dorsi, quadriceps, hands and fingers. Always remember to keep your breath moving calmly, in and out of your nose- a smiling happy face can help. :)

I often think of this dude I knew who always waited until Pranayama was over before he would go in to class: he said it hurt his neck and shoulders. He'd find all kinds of ways to stall: go to the restroom, check his phone, fill his water (again) or change clothes verrrrry sloooooowly...

By skipping this breathing exercise, however, he was missing a bigtime opportunity to warm and prepare for the rest of class precisely (yup!) his neck and shoulders. His hurting was likely due to improper technique, but by avoiding Pranayama he was robbing himself of the chance to ever learn the right way.

Avoiding what challenges you is never the answer.

If Pranayama feels uncomfortable, achy or awkward, chances are you stand to benefit from it greatly! If you do it correctly.

Since none of us came out of the womb with our knuckles glued to our chins performing perfectly synchronized movements coordinated with 6-second inhales and 6-second exhales (ok, maybe Orlo did??) it takes practice and time to learn this technique. Offer yourself patience (which Pranayama will help with, too!) and never give up.

Benefits of Pranayama breathing include:

• Super-oxygenate your muscles to help with stamina
• Begins the moving meditation of class by turning your attention to your breath
• Builds internal heat- so if you’re in a hot studio the temperature difference will feel less significant, and if you’re in a cold house this exercise will warm you up!
• Opens and warms up shoulders, wrists, hands, neck and ribcage.
• Cultivates patience & discipline
• Tones abdominal muscles, thighs, buttocks and pelvic floor
• Improves balance & coordination
• Relieves symptoms of asthma & other respiratory problems
• Massages lymph nodes of throat and neck

Tips:

• Constrict your throat on the inhale as well as the exhale, to create a sound that's somewhat like air rushing through a cracked car window when you're driving on a freeway. The sound should not be coming from your vocal chords. Try this: Do the exhale "haaaa" breath (no vocal cords involved) with mouth open, then while maintaining the same breath simply close your mouth. That's exactly the sensation and sound you should strive for on your inhale! Here's a video of that... *This video provoked a few others on our Facebook community group- be sure to join so you don't miss out on this stuff! (Please note this video is not a demonstration of how to do the Pranayama breathing itself, just a method for discovering what the sound should be.)
  

With 26 postures and one breathing exercise accomplished, the final breathing exercise begins to cool your body down so (after a 2-minute final savasana, of course!) you leave the hot room feeling like a brand new, yoga-lized you.

Benefits:

• Cleanses body by exhaling toxins
• Promotes mental clarity through concentration
• Strengthens abdominal muscles
• Aids digestion
• Improves cardiovascular and respiratory systems
• Helps to regulate blood pressure

Tips:

• Pulling the belly in is what initiates the exhale. Relaxing your belly immediately is what initiates the inhale.
• Relax your face!! Your abs should be doing the work, not your mouth.
• We pick up the pace in the second set- try to keep in sync with the group. If you lose the rhythm, simply pause and try again!