For Beginners: Triangle Pose

This basic pose improves strength, stability, and balance.

By Jason Crandell

It's common to lean too far forward, swinging the torso in front of the legs and pushing the butt out. Instead, keep your torso and pelvis over your legs and in the same plane as your feet—not an easy task if you don't have enough flexibility in your legs and hips. You might need to modify the pose by bringing the right hand to a chair.

Get Even
Now that you're in Trikonasana, you can refine the pose and create more evenness. Once again, bring your attention to your feet and legs. Make sure that all four corners of both feet bear weight evenly and that the back foot is still turned in 15 to 20 degrees. To awaken your feet and enliven the pose, lift and spread your toes several times, imagining that your feet are squishing through mud. Then use the strength of your legs to firmly root your feet into the floor, being careful not to jam or lock your front knee. Instead, rotate your front thigh out so the kneecap is aligned with the center of your front foot. Firm the tops of your thighs near the hip creases and hug your leg muscles to the bones for support. Stay here for two breaths as you continue to extend through your legs.

Now bring your attention to your pelvis. To determine the appropriate degree of rotation for your body, you'll have to play a little. With time and practice, the pelvis will balance over the legs and face the side wall. But that isn't easy in the beginning. For now, you'll have to experiment until you can strike a balance between tucking the butt under forcefully and sticking it out behind you.

To find the ideal placement of your pelvis, place your left hand on your hip and rotate the pelvis up and down. First, roll your top hip down so the front of your pelvis is facing the floor, then roll it back up so the front of your pelvis is facing the side wall. Repeat this a few times to get a feeling for how well your pelvis rotates. Finally, roll your top hip up one more time, until the front of your pelvis and chest face the side wall.

What's most important is that you stop rotating your pelvis once the easy, fluid movement ceases. Many practitioners overrotate their pelvis toward the ceiling and compress the lower back and sacrum. To avoid this, don't push your pelvis past its endpoint. Instead, find the rotation of your pelvis that makes your lower back and sacrum feel comfortable—even if this means that the top hip rolls a bit more toward the floor.

Next, bring your attention to your torso. Rather than shortening the bottom side of your waist—you'll know this is happening if the top ribs puff up in an arch—extend and lengthen the bottom ribs, keeping both sides of your waist as even as possible. This is another challenging task if you aren't sufficiently flexible. Remember to be patient and compassionate with yourself; you can place your hand on a block or a chair if that works better for you.

As you stretch your torso to its maximum without overeffort, reach through your arms as if they were branches extending from your heart. Keep your shoulders stable by centering your arms in their joints rather than throwing them forward or backward. Rotate your chest skyward and let the top of your breastbone move backward in a mild, freeing backbend. Your upper chest and arms should feel like they are lifted by a light breeze. Rather than looking toward the ceiling—which is a more advanced rotation of the head and neck—look straight ahead with soft, receptive eyes.

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