Beyond Mat:Flexible Pelvic & Hip Joints

Malsana Pose or also known as Garland Pose is the simple yet easy pose to make your pelvic and hip joints flexible and strong.Malasana is the Sanskrit name for this posture, where the breakdown of the name as follows, mala meaning garland and asana means posture or pose. Garland refers to the arms hanging around the neck like a necklace. Apart from helping flexible pelvic and hip joints,malasana also helps to:

• stretches the thighs, groin, hips, ankles and torso
• tones the abdominal muscle and improves the function of the colon to help with elimination
• increase circulation and blood flow in the pelvis, which can help to regulate sexual energy
• improves balance, concentration and focus

This poses easy, quick and requires fewer efforts . Just follow the following steps to perform this pose:

1. reach your arms forward, then swing them out to the sides and notch your shins into your armpits
2. press your fingertips to the floor or reach around the outside of your ankles and clasp your back heels
3. hold the position for 30seconds to 1 minute, then inhale, straighten the knees and stand into Uttanasana

In addition, these chakras are spinning wheels of energy that run along the spine and each chakra contributes to a part of our subtle body. Absolutely, yoga is the best path to align your chakras and this pose helps to open your chakra. Small modifications can be done in the best interest of yielding the full benefits of malasana such as elevating the heels or termed as barbell back squat heels elevation. Elevating the heels decreases ranges of motion at the hip and improves range of motion at the knee, helping to recruit more quadriceps muscle fibres. When the heels are elevated, it forces the ball of the foot to make greater contact with the surface.

There are several circumstances that this pose should be avoided such as:

• injury to knees and ankles
• pregnancy
• knee or ankle ligament tear
• weak lower back
• after strenuous running activities

However, most of the instances can be overcome with guidance and cautions except for pregnancy because this pose puts a lot of pressure on the abdominal area and must be totally avoided in pregnant mother.