Vasisthasana

Notes

In salamaba sarvangasana, the erector muscles of the spine are more active than in viparita karani. In the lifted version of viparita karani, the abdominal muscles play a greater role than the spinal muscles to keep the pelvis from collapsing onto the hands—because of the flexion of the hips, the weight of the legs falls in such a way that the weight of the pelvis is falling backward toward further extension in the spine.

In viparita karani, the abdominal muscles are strongly active in eccentric contraction. If they do not have the ability to modulate their lengthening, the weight of the pelvis collapses onto the hands or wrists. Practicing the ability to enter and leave this pose can help with other actions that require abdominal eccentric control, such as dropping the legs over into urdhva danurasana from a headstand or handstand, controlling vrksasana, dropping back into urdhva danurasana from tadasana, and so forth.

Body proportions and individual differences in weight distribution between the upper and lower body greatly affect the experience of this pose. A prime example is how challenging controlling the movement into this pose can be for women because of the greater proportion of weight in their lower bodies and the generally greater flexibility of their spines.

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