Derived from the word danda = staff, and asana = pose. Thus, Dandasana means “Staff Pose”.
How to perform Dandasana
1. Sit on the ground with your legs placed together, stretched out in front of you. If you feel that your body is leaning back, it may be due to the range of your hamstrings dragging the sitting bone in the direction of the knees and the back of the pelvis in the direction of the ground. This may be causing a posterior tilt to your pelvis, which can cause slight lower back pain. If this is the case, you may find it helpful to sit on one or two folded blankets to lift the pelvis and gain an anterior pelvic tilt rather than a posterior tilt. Everyone can benefit from this slight forward pelvic tilt.
2. You can sit your spine up against the wall and get better proprioceptive feedback, checking the alignment of your torso by pressing your back against the wall. While sitting in this manner, your shoulder blades and sacrum should touch the wall; however, the head’s lower back and back may not touch the wall, and having the head and lower back touch the wall is not the goal.
3. Lift the buttock’s flesh away from sitting bones and tilt forward, ensuring that you are sitting towards the front end of the sitting bones and that the tail bone and pubis are at an equal distance from the ground. While keeping the belly soft, firm your thighs and push them down against the ground (or blanket), turn them slightly towards each other and bring the inner groins in the direction of the sacrum. Dorsiflex your ankles, bringing your toes towards your knees and pressing down through your heels, whilst pulling the heels slightly back towards the sit bones. This creates a resistance stretch that will improve the extensibility or flexibility of the hamstrings.
4. To stretch the front of the body at right angles to the ground, imagine some energy moving up from the pubis to the sternum and then down from the shoulders to the tailbone. Stretch along with your side waists, lifting from your hips to the shoulders, stretching the muscles between the ribs to improve your breathing capacity. Then imagine that your tailbone is reaching the Earth, grounding downwards.
5. Imagine that your spine is a staff at the vertical core of your body, is rooted firmly in the Earth, and is the support pivot of whatever you do. Stay in the pose for 60 seconds or longer.
Dandasana Benefits
Western Physiology
Dandasana has therapeutic effects on physical health.
- Dandasana stretches and strengthens the muscles:
- It helps strengthen the back muscles (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- It helps in stretching the muscles of the chest and shoulders (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- It helps strengthen the external oblique muscle, which is involved in spinal rotation and breathing processes (Mrithunjay, 2016).
- Other therapeutic effects of Dandasana include but are not limited to:
- It has therapeutic benefits in relieving sciatica symptoms when practised correctly.
- It helps improve posture (Guner & Inanici, 2015), stretching the diaphragm, improves mental health by improving breath ratios, and is often composed when mental health issues arise.
- This pose, amongst others, helps improve diastolic blood pressure and reduce stress (Cowen & Adams, 2005).
- It improves the quality of life among patients with compensated systolic heart failure (Pullen et al., 2008).
Yogic Physiology
- When practised on the GROUND (no rubber mat), it can help ground or “ground” the body, which has benefits in reducing inflammation, reducing pain, improving blood flow, and may reduce delayed muscle soreness (experimental study). Dick Brown, PhD).
- It is said to control Apana Vayu – the flow that governs women’s rhythms, male sexual organs and the lower colon and bladder.
- Positioning the head above the heart will improve the flow of prana through the Chitta Nadi, energy consciousness that flows between the heart and head. The latter helps us use our hearts to float through life rather than our heads.
- It will open the heart space (anahata akash, hridaya marma points) and lungs (apalapa marma points) of the chest.
- It will increase pressure upon Katikataruna marmas on the line joining the greater trochanter with the ischial tuberosity. This pressure may relieve tension of hips and pelvis and gluteus maximus. Pressure to these marmas relieves vata and controls bones and skeletal system (asthi vaha srota), lubrication of the joints (sleshaka kapha) and also takes effect of the sweat system (sweda vaha srota).
- It is said that if you pay attention to the back of your body, you are freer to elicit the relaxation response. The spine often holds the memory of fear (Vata), increasing sympathetic tone, and the flight, fight, freeze response can be observed in the back body. Bringing attention and consciousness to the area can mindfully reduce the fear or trauma stored in the rear body, helping us soften the muscles and feel safe. “Neuroception” is the term used to describe how neural circuits distinguish whether situations or people are safe, dangerous or life-threatening. We develop this sense of neuroception through being aware and present to the moment and what is truly happening right now.
Chinese Medicine
This posture will work the back meridian lines of the body and legs. Along the back of the legs you will affect the kidney and bladder meridian lines. By placing your awareness along the front of the body, it will bring Qi to the Central Meridian line. With awareness placed to the back spine the Governor vessel meridian line will be activated, associated with sushumna nadi in yoga.
Contradictions and Cautions
Individuals suffering from wrist or lower back injuries should be mindful when performing the pose.
Preparatory Asanas
Follow up Asanas
- Purvottanasana
- Bharadvajasana I
Tips for Beginners
Place a roller or sandbag on your upper thigh at the hip crease to keep your hips still and reduce any shakiness of the limbs or nervous system. Alternatively, bend the knees slightly to support the knees and/or back.
You may sit on the edge of a bolster to get more height or on the edge of a chair with legs outstretched diagonally to the floor.
References
Guner, S., & Inanici, F. (2015). Yoga therapy and ambulatory multiple sclerosis Assessment of gait analysis parameters, fatigue and balance. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 19(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2014.04.004
Rathore, Mrithunjay. (2016). “Analysis of Myoelectric Activation Patterns during Yoga Postures”. 10.13140/RG.2.2.16513.45920.
Cowen, V. S., & Adams, T. B. (2005). Physical and perceptual benefits of yoga asana practice: Results of a pilot study. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 9(3), 211–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2004.08.001
Pullen, P. R., Nagamia, S. H., Mehta, P. K., Thompson, W. R., Benardot, D., Hammoud, R., … Khan, B. V. (2008). Effects of Yoga on Inflammation and Exercise Capacity in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure. Journal of Cardiac Failure, 14(5), 407–413.doi:10.1016/j.cardfail.2007.12.007
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