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Janushirshasana A

As you reach forward to take the left foot, the right thigh begins its countermovement, rolling forward (medial rotation). If possible, the left hand binds the right wrist. Inhaling, lift your heart and square your shoulders to the left foot. Lift through the entire front of the body while the shoulder blades flow down the back and the sit bones ground down.

ANATOMICAL FOCUS

The Buddha’s Lotus

Pointing the foot while executing Janushirshasana A allows the tibia to track the medial rotation of the femur until its front edge (it is a triangular bone) points down to the earth and the heel up to the sky. This fundamental movement can be applied in all lotus postures. It will lead to sitting in lotus posture with the heels and the soles of the feet facing upward, as in depictions of the Buddha. This is the anatomically correct position. The position adopted by many Westerners, in which the heels and soles face toward the abdomen, places undue strain on the knee joints.

To invert the foot at the same time as pointing it deepens the medial spiraling of the thigh, thereby deepening the lotus position. Combining these actions, create a vector of energy out from the groin. This counteracts the tendency for beginners to suck the thigh back into the hip, which shortens the adductors and creates an obstacle to opening the hips. All hip rotations require that the adductors are released and lengthened.

Lengthening along the insides of the thighs in Janushirshasana A loosens the adductors and reduces pressure on the knee. The knee gently draws down and back (abduction of the femur), increasing the length of the adductors.

Habitually short adductors (see figure 17, page 101) are observed in many Westerners. Our culture trains us to govern and to subdue nature; we place ourselves above nature. This is reflected in our habit of sitting on chairs — above the earth and removed from it. Asians and those of many other civilizations sat on the ground. This corresponded to a view in which humans are a part of nature and not its lord. And sitting on the ground leaves the hip joints open.