Parsvakonasana

Western Physiology

Parsvakonasana has a therapeutic effect on mental and physical health.

• Parsvakonasana improves mental health in many ways:
  • It helps in increasing the overall stamina.
  • It helps develop a strong connection between the two brain hemispheres (Kulkarni et al., 2022).

• Parsvakonasana benefits the metabolism:
  • This pose, in combination with others, has been shown to improve blood glucose levels, glycated haemoglobin, and lipid profiles in perimenopausal women (Chaturvedi, 2015).
  • This pose, in combination with others, increases the levels of ApoA1 and adiponectin. Both play a critical role in lipid metabolism and determine the prognosis of various conditions such as colorectal cancer, diabetes, and heart disease (Papp et al., 2016).

• Parsvakonasana stretches and strengthens the muscles:
  • It helps stretch and strengthen the knees, legs and ankles (Kulkarni et al., 2022; Guner & Inanici, 2015).
  • It helps stretch the groins, waist, spine, and shoulders (Guner & Inanici, 2015).

• Other therapeutic effects of Parsvakonasana include but are not limited to:
  • It provides therapeutic benefits for constipation, infertility, low back pain, osteoporosis, menstrual discomfort, and sciatica.
  • It stretches the chest and lungs, thus improving respiratory function (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
  • It helps in stimulating the organs situated in the abdominal region.
  • It helps by stretching the muscles that aid in digestive processes, and reduces mechanical restriction of the psoas, iliacus, and iliopsoas. These are muscles which, when immobilised, can poorly affect the surrounding organs, including the organs of digestion.

Yogic Physiology

• Parsvakonasana stretches into the limbs and affects the flow of vyana vayu which moves prana from the centre of the body to the periphery, governing circulation of blood, prana and lymph to the extremities. Vyana vayu is the vital energy of the heart and lungs and so the posture will have effect of these organs.
• Vyana moves food, water and oxygen throughout the body and keeps our emotions and minds moving without stagnation.
• In Ayurveda, this posture is grounding and reduces kapha and vata.

Chinese Medicine

• This pose stretches the side of the body and therefore the gall bladder meridian line which keeps our thoughts and minds moving, reducing stagnation and headaches.

Contradictions and Cautions

• Individuals suffering symptoms of headache and insomnia, and high or low blood pressure should not perform this yoga pose.
• Moreover, individuals suffering from neck problems should not turn their heads to look up at their arms; instead, they should look ahead straight with the sides of the neck stretched evenly, or they can look down at the ground.

Preparatory Poses

• Adho Mukha Svanasana
• SuptaBaddha Konasana
• Prasarita Padottanasana
• Siddhasana
• Supta Virasana
• Supta Padangusthasana
• Tadasana
• Upavistha Konasana
• Utthita Trikonasana
• Virabhadrasana II
• Virasana

Follow up Asanas

• Utthita Parsvakonasana (or Extended Side-Angle Pose) is an ideal standing pose to perform at or near the beginning of a sequence of standing poses. It is also the perfect preparation for wide-open groin poses, like Baddha Konasana, Malasana, and Bakasana. The revolved version of this pose, Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, is often performed straight after.

Tips for Beginners

The most common problems experienced by beginners in this pose are the inability to keep the heel of the foot on the floor when they bend the front knee into the pose and the inability to touch the floor with the fingertips of the hand when they are in this pose.

The first problem can be solved by resting the back heel against the wall. Imagine using your heel to push the wall away from you as you bend your front knee and then lower your trunk to the side.

To solve the second problem, you must either place your forearm on top of your thigh with your knee bent (instead of trying to touch the floor with your hand) or use a block on the outside of your forefoot to support your hand.

Variations

• This asana can also be done with the forearm in front of the hip bent at the knee. The latter will stretch the front of the groin more intensively. As you lower your trunk to the side, press the back of your right shoulder against the inner part of your knee and press your fingertips into the ground. Push your shoulder firmly against your knee and lean your trunk against your inner thigh. Lengthen the side ribs along the inner thigh.
• You may choose to separate the feet as wide as either side of your mat – this works into the inner thigh more at the front and protects the back in the posture for many, reducing torsion. Place your front foot to one side of your mat and your back foot to the other side, roughly 1m apart.
• Lift your front leg onto a chair and hold the bottom of the chair and pull the chair up and towards you with your base hand.

Modifications and Props

To feel the correct movement of the thigh in this asana, you need to follow these steps:

• Step 1: First, make a medium-sized loop from a yoga strap and put it on your leg.
• Step 2: Snug the strap into the right groin, into the crease where the hip joints and pelvis are (please note that the strap should not touch the floor).
• Step 3: Hang a 10-pound weight on the loop and complete the movement into the pose. Allow the head of the right thigh, which is just below the belt, to sink into the weight towards the floor. Use this action to align your thigh parallel to the floor, ground your heels, and further lengthen your spine, especially along the right (lower) side.

Deepen the Asana

Even in advanced practitioners, the body’s weight tends to shift forward onto the balls of the front foot, throwing off the balance of the posture. Once in this pose, lift the ball of the front foot off the floor and re-firm the support of the hind heel by pressing the head of the posterior femur deep into its socket and lifting the inside rear of the groin deep into the leg. Then lower the balls of your front foot back to the floor.