YOGA WITH VICTOR - VICYASA™
  • Yoga With Victor
  • Schedule
  • Blog/Events
  • Vicyasa™ - Facebook
  • Gallery
  • Media & Testimonials
  • Private Sessions & Corporate Yoga
  • About Me
  • Videos

Oh boy ... plank pose!  (Phalakasana)

3/31/2014

0 Comments

 
Victor Cotto Plank Pose Phalakasana
"On your next inhale, glide forward to plank."

Dreaded words to many. Oh noooo… a plank. A high push-up. Ughh!

Is your lower back feeling sore? Are your wrist aching? Is your pelvis dragging you down? All things we've felt at one point or another during this posture - which is why many of us dread it. I for one one have felt that way in the past, collapsing into my wrist  and not evenly distributing my weight or activating my "core" [we'll get to that] enough, which added to my unease when approaching plank. 

So how can we feel lighter and embrace this asana with new found awareness?

First and foremost, it's not solely about your arms bearing weight or any of the rest of your major muscles in your upper body. 

Yes, the shoulder joint - which is built for mobility - is engaged in stability. But I truly feel that because there is such a spotlight in bringing your "shoulders over your wrist," that many of us forget to engage the "core," which begins at your heels, spirals up the pelvis, into your abdominals and trunk before reaching your scapula and ultimately, shooting energy out of the crown of your head. That is your core.

Are your quadriceps (thigh muscles) engaged? Straight legs, active with your heels lifted, energetically, moving towards the back of your mat. 

Integrating the mid-section, your pelvis, is imperative to keep you afloat and light. Especially to prevent a collapsing of the lower back, lift your pelvic girdle in line with your shoulders and look for a sensation of elongating your tailbone towards your feet to engage through your lower extremities and avoid that scooping in your lumbar-sacral region. 

Rolling the inner upper thighs towards your back body helps create that energy. 

So far… we've talked about the "core" & not once have I talked about isolating our abdominals nor finding a sensation at our heart region, which sometimes gets misinterpreted as such when the word "core" gets thrown around. 

Yes, you want your shoulders away from your ears, neck long and shoulder blades to draw towards one another across your back so your collarbones broaden. Tip: a good way to get this feeling is to lower your knees onto the mat, with your hips aligned over your knees, and work to find that opening in your front-body and engagement in your back body. After finding your alignment there, you can find some burn and work towards a full plank by starting on your knees then pressing into hands and toes to hover the knees a few inches off the ground [hold for 5-10 breaths] to begin a journey into plank.

I didn't want to write a full dissertation on Phalakasana, but just touch on some points that are important when coming into this pose. Hopefully, you can come into this asana with less apprehension and a increased sense of direction, making your plank more powerful and more importantly, lighter. 

Questions, comments and/or feedback are encouraged… shoot me a response and lets talk some plank.
0 Comments

Welcome to the vicyasa blog...

3/31/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
What's up everyone? 

If I know you... thank you very much for your support and hope to see you whether on the mat or off of it. If you are a new friend, thanks for the support and I'm pleased you're a part of my life journey. 

On this blog section, you'll see what's going on with me, whether it has to do with our asana practice (I say ours because we all share the same/different thoughts and questions, or learn from each other through our daily exploration), meditation or, where I'll be teaching next week . Heck, you'll even find me post about movies, food, traveling ... anything. 

So, feel free to leave a comment, question, suggestion or a friendly "hello. " 







0 Comments

    Author

    If I'm doing it, I'll be talking about it.  Yoga chatter & more. 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    Adho Mukha Svanasana
    Adho Mukha Vrksasana
    Anthea Yoga & Healing Arts Center
    Asana
    Ashley Elnicki
    Athleta
    Babette Godefroy
    BARRE
    Becca Pace
    Beloved Yogi Harlem
    Bhagavad Gita
    Blocks
    BodyArt™
    BodyArt™
    Boro Magazine
    Brooklyn
    Demetra Kentrotas
    Dharma Talk
    Dina Ivas
    DJ Shisaa
    Down To Earth Markets
    Earth Yoga NYC
    Earth Yoga NYC
    Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
    Elinor Cohen
    Equinox
    Erin Giordano
    Event
    Glass House Yoga
    Gopal Chandra
    Greenpoint Terminal Market
    HIIT
    HITT
    Hot Yoga
    Info
    Jenn Spry
    Josh Mathew Meier
    Josh Mathew-Meier
    Karen Hyland
    Leanne McDermott
    Live
    Living Yoga
    LL Studio
    LuluLemon
    Makara Studio
    Marko Galjasevic
    Meditation
    Meow Parlour
    New York Yoga
    Occupational Therapy
    On Demand
    Outdoor Class
    Patañjali
    Phalakasana
    Pilates
    Plank
    Prana Power Yoga
    Press
    Private Yoga
    QNS.com
    Queens Scene
    Raghunath Cappo
    Retreat
    SALE
    Savasana
    Sebastian Morel-Ferreira
    Setu Bandhasana
    SMAX Music
    Streaming Classes
    Sukhasana
    Sun Salutation
    Sutra
    Tanya Mgrdechian
    Teaching
    The Yoga Room
    Workout Factory
    Workshop
    YELP
    Yoga
    YogaCity NYC
    Yoga In The Park
    Yoga Spark
    Yumcha Yoga
    Zsuzsanna Bircsak

    RSS Feed

  • Yoga With Victor
  • Schedule
  • Blog/Events
  • Vicyasa™ - Facebook
  • Gallery
  • Media & Testimonials
  • Private Sessions & Corporate Yoga
  • About Me
  • Videos