Triangle
Wide stance, front leg straight, reaching long over it. Hamstring, adductor, outer hip and side ribs in one standing shape.
The lesson
- 01
Wide stance, back foot grounded
Feet about a leg's length apart. Front foot points straight ahead, back foot turns in slightly with the outer edge pressing down.
- 02
Reach before you lower
Both legs straight. Reach your front hand as far forward over the front leg as it will go, keeping both sides of your waist long. Only then let the hand come down.
- 03
Put the floor where you can reach it
Bottom hand on a block, or on your shin. Reaching all the way to the floor is what collapses the top side of your waist, and the top side is the pose.
- 04
Open like you are between two panes of glass
Stack the top shoulder above the bottom one and reach the top arm straight up. Chest turns toward the long edge of the mat, not toward the floor.
- 05
The test
You should feel it in three places at once — the back of the front leg, the inner thigh of the back leg, and the top side of your waist. If your waist feels short, raise your bottom hand.