Ardhamatsyendrasana - How to practice

It is very essential to keep the spine healthy for staying alert and energetic in later years.  So a healthy spine is not only desirable but is the most valuable for your journey to enlightenment.  So most of the yoga asanas are devoted to keeping the spine healthy.   The "Ardha Matsyendrasana" or the "Lord of the fish pose" is a wonderful rejuvenator of the spine and abdominal organs.  You can feel the refreshing effect almost immediately.

The Ardha Matsyendrasana also known as "Seated half spinal twist pose" whose name is derived from the great yoga saint named Sage Matsyndra.  Also "Matsya" translates to a "fish" in Sanskrit.  If you practice this posture daily, it will improve your body posture.

The Twisting poses are very important in yoga classes because they provide a lot of benfits for the entire body.  Twists increase the flexibility of the spine, calm the mind, relax the nervous system and improves digestion.  The Ardha Matsyendrasana is a popular seated twist.

Its Sanskrit name, "Ardha Matsyendrasana" (ARD-uh MAHT-see-ehn-DRAHS-uh-nuh), comes from four words:

• "Ardha" — meaning "half"
• "Matsya" — meaning "fish"
• "Indra" — meaning "ruler"
• "Asana" — meaning "pose"

This asana is named after Matsyendra, who is a yoga master in India.  Practicing this twist brings many benefits to your body, mind and spirit.

How to practice Ardha Matsyendrasana

• First start by sitting on the floor with your legs extended in front of you and arms resting at your sides.  This pose is called as Dandasana.  You can see this pose in the following picture.
  
•  Now bend both of your knees, placing the soles of your feet flat on the floor.  Now drop your left knee to the floor.  Tuck your left foot under your right leg, resting it alongside, your right buttock.
• Raise your left arm on an inhalation.  Twist to the right on exhaling, with your torso against the inside of your right thigh.  Place your left elbow to the outside of your right knee.  Now keep your fore arm raised, with your fingertips pointing towards ceiling.  To deepen the pose, lower the left forearm and hold onto the left knee. Reach behind your body with your right hand and rest it on the floor behind you.
•  Spiral your torso around your spine from your tailbone to the crown of your head.
• With each inhalation, make your spine longer; and with each exhalation, twist a little deeper.
• Turn your head to gaze over your right shoulder.
• Press your inner right foot firmly into the floor. Keep the front of your torso long. Draw your tailbone down to the floor.
• Hold for up to one minute.
• To release, exhale and unwind your torso. Come back to center and extend both legs in front of you in Staff Pose again. Repeat the twist for the same length of time on the opposite side.

Cautions

Avoid practicing this pose if you have a recent or chronic injury to your knees, hips, or spine. Those with back pain, back injuries, or degenerative disk disease should approach this pose with caution and should only attempt to practice it under the guidance of an experienced and knowledgeable instructor. Always work within your own range of limits and abilities. If you have any medical concerns, talk with your doctor before practicing yoga.

Benefits of Half Lord of the Fishes Pose

Traditional yoga texts claim that this pose destroys deadly diseases and awakens the cosmic energy called "Kundalini." Modern teachers agree to its many benefits, which include:

• Stretched shoulders, hips, neck, and spine
• Relief from fatigue, backache, and sciatica
• Stimulated digestion and metabolism
• Stimulated kidneys and liver
• Relief form menstrual discomfort

This pose energizes the body, and calms the mind and nervous system. It is also therapeutic for asthma and infertility. As with all twists in yoga, Ardha Matsyendrasana relieves stress and restores balance to body, mind, and spirit.

How to practice Vakrasana

This asana is called as Vakrasana or Twisted Pose because the spine is twisted in practicing this asana.  "Vakra" means 'twisted' in Sanskrit.  In the Vakrasana, the upper part of the body is completely turned and twisted.  The spine, the muscles of hands, the legs and the back are stretched.
  
The Vakrasana is a simplified form of the Ardha Matsyendrasana, an asana which is named after Matsyendranath, the founder of Hatha yoga.  The asana stretches the thigh and tones the abdomen.  Those who are unable to perform Artha Matsyendrasana generally prepare for it by practicing the Vakrasana.  Now let us see how to practice Vakrasana.

How to practice Vakrasana

Here is a step by step way to practice Vakrasana.  

• Sit erect first, stretching the legs in front together
• Hands should be by the side, palm resting on the ground, fingers together pointing forward
• Now slowly fold left leg at the knee and place the sole on the ground near the knee of right leg.  The knee of the left leg should make 90 degrees angle straight towards sky
• Now take left hand towards back, place the palm on the ground straight from the spine.  Fingers should be together points backward
• Now place the right hand towards the other side of the left knee.  If the legs are stretched towards east then fingers of the hand will point towards north
• You have to twist the head back towards backside and try to look back
• While returning to the original position, first bring the head towards original position
• Now take the right hand to its original position and then bring the left hand from the back and place it by the side of the body.
• Slowly stretch out the folded leg and sit erect as in first position
• Practice the asana in the same way with the other leg.  This makes one round of Vakrasana

 Even though this asana is easy to practice,  most people find it difficult to place the hand to the other side of the knee.  If it is difficult, then you can place the hand on the knee or keep it where ever it is. 

This asana should be retained for at least two minutes on each side.

Benefits of Vakrasana

 Vakrasana is a very good asana to make the spine flexible.  The Vakrasana is very much helpful in treating enlarged and congested liver and inactive kidneys.  This asana also brings relief to hypertension, constipation and diabetic patients.  Here is a list of benefits of Vakrasana.

• Vakrasana cures constipation, liver weakness and nervous weakness.
• The asana reduces rigidity in the spine
• Very useful for kidneys and other stomach diseases
• Kundalini shakthi is sublimated
• The asana reduced back aches
• The spine attains elasticity
• Flab on the lateral side of the abdomen gets reduced

Caution :

Those people with big belly may feel it difficult to place the hand to the other side of the knee. They are suggested to place the hand on the knee or keep it wherever it is, if it is not possible to place it on the ground. 

Here is a video on how to practice Vakrasana...