Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Asana of the Week: Utkatasana, Part II

I love Utkatasana a.k.a. Chair Pose so dang much, I decided to make it my asana of the week for another week!

Ha.  Actually, I still have so much aversion to Utkatasana that I thought I needed to sit with it a little longer.  (That's a yoga joke, see, because Utkatasana is more commonly known as a chair and you sit in a chair.  See?  Ba-da-da!) 

The Thing fears Utkatasana almost as much as I do.
So last week, I did Utkatasana daily as promised, though the frequency and duration varied from day to day.  And I still absolutely find it to be a challenging pose. Reviewing the pose's mental benefits (see the Utkatasana FYI at the end of my last post), I agree that Utkatasana does build focus and stimulates the mind.  A few things my mind is focusing on:
  • Whether or not I can deepen my groin muscles further back and down to get my legs closer to a 90-degree angle
  • Checking my foundation to make sure I'm balanced and not about to tip over and fall on my butt
  • Wondering if I'm over-arching my back, and trying to engage the core and puff up my kidney area to give my back some support and relief, while still moving the torso towards a vertical position
  • Keeping my shoulders down instead of hunched up around my ears
  • Bringing my arms closer to my head while also taking them up and back further
  • Not to looking down, but straight ahead. 
  • Lifting the corners of my mouth. (Well, I should be trying to do this!)
  • Surviving.
Another mental benefit of Utkatasana is that it helps develop willpower.  No kidding.  To sit in this pose for longer than five seconds takes super willpower.  Like with any challenge, some days the willpower is easier to muster than others.  I can be a pretty willful person, but not always.  When it comes to something difficult, I think I could always use a little more willpower to face the challenge.  Thus I'm going to keep working with Utkatasana this week.  Perhaps by the end of TWO weeks of Chair, I'll be able to comprehend how the pose offers the final mental benefit: stress reduction!