After month of lotus (did your knees survive?) and the month before on wheel (how’s your lower back holding up?) I wanted to shift the focus: a standing posture, something that would allow us to work on length and extension, something a little more clean and straightforward.
Twisting Triangle (parivritta trikonasana) is the first twist we encounter in the standing sequence in astanga. It requires length in the back of the body, a strong base, and the ability to rotate and balance. It challenges our ability to know where our hips are and move with confidence from the core. And it asks some of us to access that band of fascia or tissue along the outside of the leg—the iliotibial band or ‘IT band’—where so many of us are tight.
I was told soon after I began practicing yoga that the postures you love because they feel easy often grow boring, while the postures you hate usually have something to teach you. And you may learn to, if not love, at least appreciate the challenge. Twisting triangle was a pose I hated. I get the sense that many of us feel really comfortable and confident in triangle, but we look at the twisting version as its evil twin. The posture is still amazingly challenging to me but a little less daunting. I’m looking forward to working on it in lots of different ways and, as always, throwing some arm balances into the mix for fun.
So come to the intensive and turn your attitude about revolved triangle around!
—Elliott
