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Improve Your Dancing With Yoga: Utthita Parshvakonasana – The Extended Side Angle Pose.
Guest Writer: Lubosch Bublák Editing And Translation: Kerstin Lange Photography: Helmut Römhild
A dancer has several options to prepare the body for training or competition.
A dancer wants to be impressive and appear tall. When extending the body it helps having used the Angle Pose to stretch the sides
and leg muscles – an exercise which protects the thights against injuries.
A dancer who makes that yoga posture part of the warming-up is able to make an impression on the floor and to demonstrate confidence and mental power.
Begin from an intermediary position ...
Start practicing from an intermediary position.
Assume a position with your feet wide apart, turn the right foot by 90 degrees to the right, the left foot moves slightly inward.
Bend the right knee, lean on your right forearm which rests on the thigh close to the knee.
Before you start to stretch control your posture: No hollow back ak ‘duck’s rump‘!
Fully extend the left leg by slightly lifting the inside part of the left ankle while pressing the outside part of the left heel
against the floor.
Carefully move the right knee forward until thight and shin form a right angle and the knee is above the ankle joint.
Pull back the left shoulder to 'open' the chest and extend the left left arm towards the ceiling.
You can now feel the inside of the thights stretching while you try to remain upright by controlling the center of your body.
The forearm resting on your thigh gives additional control.
Do this exercise in both directions. It also gives you the opportunity to practice one of the basic dancing skill:
Regardless of pain and strain – keep smiling.
Guest Writer: Lubosch Bublák
Yoga teacher, former competition dancer,
BDY, VYLK, TaMeD e.V.
www.ashtanga-yoga-kiel.de
Power Yoga In Dancesport.
In a short sequel of articles Lubosch Bublák will introduce yoga postures which are helpful for the competition dancer.
Using these power yoga poses immediately before entering a competition a dancer can harmonize body and mind,
make muscles, tendons and joints flexible and strong and considerably reduce stress:
only a well-balanced organism can fully use the music’s potential.
photos will show the yoga posture in detail while the text will highlight the important
aspects of the yoga exercises.
The 2 yoga teachers demonstrating the yoga poses are Alexa Potrykus and Petra Reiter-Löbbing.
They will show additional yoga exercises helpful not only in dancesport.
There is simply no time to fully exercise yoga before a competition starts.
But even a brief sequence of yoga poses, easy to go through, giving the final touch to all the other preparations and training
will show results as if by magic.
Power Yoga can become an integral part of the training for ballroom dancing.
While going through their yoga exercises 5000 years ago the Indians probably didn’t consider any implications
for ballroom dancing, for Slow Waltz or Samba.
Nevertheless the competition dancer can benefit from yoga by using a short sequence of yoga postures to raise awareness and concentration.
Yoga poses are demonstrated by Petra Reiter-Löbbing and Alexa Potrykus.
Petra Reiter-Löbbing
Yoga teacher (BDY/EYU)
www.vitalcenterwentorf.de
Alexa Potrykus
Yoga teacher
TSV Glinde von 1930 e.V.
www.tsv-glinde.de
The yoga photos were shot on the premises of Vital Center Wentorf and sportsclub TSV Glinde. We are grateful for the generous support.
Vital Center Wentorf e.K.
www.vitalcenterwentorf.de
TSV Glinde von 1930 e.V.
www.tsv-glinde.de
Almost the same – only more difficult ...
Start like before only this time don't lean on your right forearm but let the right hand slide downwards along the inside of the right shinbone and touch the floor either with your fingertips or the palm of your hand.
If this is a problem for you either rest your hand on a block or stick to level 1 until you feel more comfortable.
While going through the more demanding level 2 exercise you will feel the stress and strain much stronger and experience
how much effort it takes to 'open' the chest using the body's center.
Extend your arm towards the ceiling, look forward or focus on the hand high above you.
In perfect shape, growing, reaching from floor to ceiling ...
The perfect yogi (and a flexible dancer as well) can proceed even further by gently lifting the right hand
and - while no longer touching the floor - keep the posture without letting the body collapse.
Then the dancer-yogi moves the hand from the inside of the right foot to the outside, extends the left arm forcefully towards the ceiling
inclining it foreward - always above the left ear - until it points diagonally upwards, the palm towards the floor, eyes focussed
on it.
Be certain to press the bent knee against the supporting downwards pointing arm.
Try to extend the spine as if to open the space between the vertebrae.
Slim, strong and firm.
According to the famous yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar the extended side angle pose brings strength to ankles, knees and thighs, to the body’s center, develops the chest.
It reduces the fat on hips and waist which is a benefit not only for dancers.
That the posture also improves digestion is not really important for the dancer who will rather benefit from becoming mentally focused.
©: Ballroom Website, 2009
Aktualisiert: 11.11.2009