Step-by-Step Instructions for the Noose Pose
Step 1
Stand next to a wall in Tadasana (Mountain Pose), your feet hip-width and parallel to each other. The ideal distance between you and the wall is forearm distance. So, when you're standing there,With the wall on your right side, swivel to the right and press your right palm into the wall, keeping your forearm parallel to the ground from wrist to elbow. Adjust your distance from the wall and return your torso to its original position.
Step 2Bend your knees and sit your buttocks on your heels in a complete squat. Squat with your heels lifted on a heavily folded blanket or sandbag if you can't get your heels fully on the floor.
Swing your knees slightly to the left. As you exhale, turn your torso to the right and press both hands into the wall. As your left hand presses into the wall, the elbow should press against the outside of your right knee. Support the pose by using your right hand for leverage-the right hand will be high and the left hand will be low. For the full pose, it’s necessary to close any space between the left side of the torso and the tops of the thighs. So work the back of the left arm down the leg, moving the back of the left shoulder toward the outside of the right knee.
Still, you can be sure that when you fold your legs like a grasshopper, bend your ankles into a superlow squat, twist in half, and hold hands with yourself behind your back, a variety of sensations and emotions will arise. Although examining those feelings is an important part of the yogic process, beware of sensation hunting. Notice whether you instinctively push and pull on yourself until the grasping noose of your arms becomes like a scary vice that inhibits your breathing. Struggling in your asana practice like this leads to injury, and it can dull your natural sensitivity to the point where you don’t feel anything at all without extreme effort. The whole idea of yoga is to tune in to yourself so that you can create more sensitivity to subtlety—not less.
At the same time, Pasasana is a pose that requires some perseverance. If you are too passive as you practice, you will miss the vibrant aspect of juicy exertion that strengthens your muscles and bones and increases your ability to stay focused. Put simply: If you don’t put enough oomph into it, you’ll never touch your hands behind your back.
Step 5
The solution then, is to look for the middle path, the place where you walk the line between too much effort and complete passivity. You tap into the middle path by listening to your body, moving with sensitivity, and engaging with what’s happening. You often hear the phrase “being present to the moment.” What this really means is being part of the moment. This happens through the middle path of commitment, patience, and listening.
The Buddha offered insight into this process. The story goes that a musician asked the Buddha how he should
. The Buddha replied, “How do you tune your instrument?” The musician said, “Not too tight, not too loose.” The Buddha said, “Exactly like that.” If you learn to apply this to Pasasana, your noose will evolve into a warm feeling of being held and supported by yourself and by your healthy, wakeful, engaged practice.
Step 6
Before You Begin
Before you begin this practice, sit in a comfortable cross-legged position for 5 to 10 minutes. Place your attention on your natural breath to create a home base for your mind. Whenever your attention strays, bring it back to the breath.
Parivrtta Utkatasana (Revolved Chair Pose)
Stand with your feet together, toes and heels touching. Lift your toes and spread them wide. Place each toe back on the floor individually, letting them touch each other as you press them firmly into the floor. From this clear connection to the earth, begin to soften the knees, moving the shins forward as the upper thighs move down and back. Lift your arms up alongside your ears.
Your spine, ribs, and pelvis will maintain the alignment of Tadasana, except that you will be leaning forward on a slight diagonal. If you notice that your front ribs are popping out, don’t tilt or tuck your pelvis; instead, move your upper arms slightly forward on a diagonal. Rest your gaze on something right in front of you so that your forehead can be soft.
Now imagine you had to stay in this pose for an hour! What would you change? What would it take to make this situation workable? Would you breathe more steadily? Release muscular tension? Ask these questions to help you find a middle-path approach to this powerful pose.
Sensitively fold your palms together in front of your chest. Inhale, and as you exhale, twist to the right. On your next inhalation, untwist. Repeat that action, twisting and untwisting two more times. Discover how much is truly available to you today without using your arms to crank into the twist.
The next time you twist, place your left elbow on the outside of your right knee and stay there. Instead of reacting by trying to fix or change your position, treat whatever is happening as something interesting. Take a look down at your feet and align your nose over your big toes—that’s how you can tell if you are accurately rotating around the axis of your spine.
Check to be sure that your knees are even, and if your left knee is in front of your right knee, draw your outer left hip crease back. When your body is organized, turn your head and look to the side or up to the sky.This pose is considered a closed twist because you are turning in on yourself—closing your front toward your legs and creating a slight forward bending action in the spine. To balance this with more heart opening, allow the part of your spine between your shoulder blades to absorb into your body; that, in turn, will broaden your chest. Press your palms together just enough—not too hard—to spread your collarbones.
Check back in with your feet. Are they still firmly planted? Try to center your weight on the middle of each foot. Press your inner heels down, and at the same time, lift your inner ankles up, since they tend to collapse in this position. Perhaps you can breathe some softness into the front of the ankles so they bend a bit more, lengthening the calf muscles and the Achilles tendons.
Stay here, breathing evenly for a few more breaths, and observe if there is any opening or softening that allows you to twist around more. Inhale to untwist.
