Know a yoga pose - Yoga Exercise - Triangle Pose (Trikonasana) - By Dr. P.T. Ezhil Selvan

In this exercise, you build up strength in the lower back and upper legs while you remove tension from the lower and upper back, the hips and the hamstrings through both the twist and the stretching. The exercise is good for your sense of coordination and sense of balance. You need a lot of concentration and precision to be able to carry it out correctly. 

STEP 1: Start with the Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana).

STEP 2: Move your left foot forward for about 1 meter. 

STEP 3: Put your left hand beside your foot and carry your weight with the lower back and on the heels of your foot in front. Raise the upper part of your body until the lower back is straight. You can recognize this by a groove in the middle of the lower back. The right foot (the one at the back) rests on the floor.

STEP 4: Stretch the leg which is in front without bending the back or twisting your body. With your back straight and your right hip stretched backward, look at a point on the ground and breathe in and out quietly. Press your left hand against the heel and twist your chest to the left. Let the twisting motion involve only your upper back while your hip, lower back, legs and head remain stationary. When you cannot twist any further, stretch your right arm upward. 

STEP 5: Then twist your head to the left, look upward along your outstretched arm and stretch out your neck. When you stand well aligned in this position, it will feel light. The better you do this exercise, the bigger the triangle between your legs, arms and side will be. 

Step back towards the Downward Facing Dog Pose and repeat the exercise with your right leg in front. 

Caution:

In this Asana, it is important that you keep the lower back straight. Aside from that, remember that when you are twisting, the hips do not twist along. Otherwise, the right hand side becomes active and the lower back gets "locked up" as it were which results in tension in the lower back. Prevent this by actively tightening the left hand side and let it even help carry the position so that you can keep the hip in its place when twisting. This dynamism in your side also helps you to keep the dynamism in the hip active through the right leg as a result of which the hip is mobilized as much as possible.          

• People with a slipped disc should not practice this yoga pose.

Benefits:        

•  Trikonasana relieves pain of the knees, waistline, joints, hips, elbows and the neck besides back pain.
• Trikonasana also boosts appetite.         
• The pose can cure constipation by enhancing bowel movements.         
• The hips and buttocks get toned.
• The pose can rejuvenate you after a hard day.         
• Excess flab in the hips, waist and abdomen will be reduced with regular practice of Trikonasana.