Generally speaking, I like asanas that I feel I can do quite
well and dislike those I’m rubbish at. This one is an exception. From the first
time I tried it, I’ve been attracted to the feeling of danger as I put a
stretch on my glute that threatens to do something dreadful, something catastrophic
that I might never recover from. It’s a big old muscle and it protests loudly
but, however much it feels like it might, it doesn’t rip and pop my hip socket
out like a jointed chicken. Then, ever-so-gradually, I start to let go, lean forward and
settle towards the floor. The sense of danger transmutes to a duller aching
that starts to feel intensely satisfying as I take the tension out of my
shoulders and soften everything, until the belly is connected to the shin, the
cheek to the mat, the arms to the floor…
I sit a lot at work, so there is generally a fair bit of
tension in my hips. This was the pose in which I first noticed that holding
tension in a muscle to protect it actually makes things worse. It takes a leap
of faith to relax fully and let the muscle really stretch out. The mixture of a
great, deep stretch with a little bit more surrender every time completely hits
the spot for me. This one’s on my Desert Island Practice for sure.
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| The desert island I have in mind for my Desert Island Practice |
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