twisting triangle

At a bootcamp once, Baron had us revolving from one side twisting triangle to the other, from facing the front of the room to facing the back, over and over again, on one breath each for a good fifteen minutes.  It must have been over a hundred rotations from right side to left side twisting triangle.  Talk about a dizzying experience!  I learned quickly to take my block with me and transfer it over my head.

While we were twisting and turning (some of us slipping and sliding away), Baron and his crew of assistants gave personal adjustments to every single student in the room.  Some of us were told to get out of our egos and use a block.  Others were literally anchored into the ground  as assistants stood on toes and pulled back hips.  Still others were twisted until our spines and shoulders popped and cracked.  All the while, I was singing Twist and Shout inside my head.

The next day, a very brave and vocal student raised her hand and asked Baron proudly, “Baron?  What’s with the diarrhea?”  The whole class giggled as Baron explained that the previous day’s practice had worked its magic.

There’s nothing like a long hold of twisting triangle to shut up the itty bitty shitty committee of my brain that rambles about everything and nothing and get me thinking only about what is happening at the precise moment in my body.  In fact, twisting triangle has a lot to say, sometimes long after the practice is over, constantly returning me to the full presence of being in my body and out of my head.

Twisting Triangle is deceptively difficult, thus offering a true experience in challenge.  In fact, it is probably the most complicated of poses used in the average yoga class, even more challenging than headstand.  Early in my practice, I thought this pose was rather simple.  I could easily reach my lower hand to the floor, turn my shoulders, and reach my upper hand to the sky —as long as I didn’t think about what my legs and hips and spine were doing.  Then, a master teacher adjusted me once from the hips, and I found my upper hand pointing almost parallel to the floor, but I felt something really new and different in my middle spine.  “Oh, that’s what a twist means!”

There’s a whole lot of physical alignments to think about while working twisting triangle, and it seems that with every adjustment I make, something else pops out of alignment.  It’s a constant tug of war, between the hips and the shoulders, the head and the low back, the front leg and the back leg, the upper arm and the lower arm.  If I square the pelvis, I lose some of the twist.  If I twist too far, I lose pelvic alignment.  If I reach my head forward, weight pushes off my back leg.  The whole pose is an exercise of never ever quite getting it just right…eventually it teaches the age old yogic lesson of the prize existing within the process.

Alignment

  • evenly distribute weight between both feet to establish solid grounding from the past (back leg), stepping into the future (front leg), establishing immediate presence in the now
  • square pelvis to front of the room, thus stretching deeply into the hamstrings and releasing anxieties about support, foundation, stability, and structure
  • push the pelvis toward the back of the room, affirming that all past experiences can serve as reference into future endeavors
  • rotate torso from lower belly, to mid-waist, to rib cage, and finally to shoulders and neck, thus tapping into the un-investigated flexibility of the spine and finding new hiding places for old feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt (twisting will push these negative emotions out - breath will allow for escape of these old pains)
  • keep shoulders and neck along the same plane as the hips & pelvis (USE A BLOCK) to prevent curvature of the spine - lengthening of the spine appeals to opening the cavities between the vertebrae, allowing for more hiding places to be revealed
  • open arms to full reception and expression of compassion and energy - this requires maintaining the ability to see both hands!  Once you lose vision of one or both hands, you are cranking unnecessarily on the shoulder joint, blocking flow of love and compassion to yourself and others
  • pull shoulders down and together, away from the ears to extend the vertebrae at the neck and to open the collar bone - this will help facilitate deeper breathing (which is always a little more challenged in twists) - and open up the flow of life force prana through the whole pose, bringing sukha surrender and relaxation to challenging efforting pose
  • rotate the neck to look to the ceiling, leading with the third eye.
  • Let the rotation of the pose come from the center core, the chest, and the forehead, thus being guided by your instinct, heart, and intuition

Benefits

  • challenges the ego/pride in the apparent “impossibility” of the pose
  • teaches the lesson of finding the prize in the process
  • shows the importance of full grounding and support as a pre-requisite for opening and expression
  • lengthens the spine - helps you to “grow up” and “grow long”
  • strengthens the legs - establishes stability in intention
  • opens the heart - facilitates compassion and forgiveness
  • cleanses the digestive system - rinses out deep old regrets, shames, and resentments
  • detoxifies the vital organs - promoting full function of all faculties
  • supports the value of modification for individual quirks, supports independence and individuality

Modifications

  • bend the front knee the release into the hamstrings and square the pelvis
  • lessen the twist to keep stability in squared pelvis
  • keep a block under the front hand to avoid over-curvature of the spine
  • look down to release tension on the neck
  • bring hands to hips to promote stability and release shoulder tension
  • bring feet closer together to build more stability and balance
  • keep upper hand on low back to guide pelvis to more square