How to Practice Pyramid Pose

In Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. These stories offer a glimpse into how yoga was interpreted, written about, and practiced throughout the years. This article first appeared in the September-October 1980 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here.

During my first year of teaching, an athletic student in one of my beginning classes asked me to show him the most difficult yoga pose. My inexperience showed glaringly when I suggested he try Handstand in the center of the room. He proceeded to squat down, place his knees on his elbows, balance, and then push up from that position into a Handstand. (He had been trained as a gymnast.) I was admittedly impressed, but he never returned to the class.

I have since learned that the most difficult yoga pose is the one which confronts each student’s weaknesses head on. Strength poses were no challenge for this student, but perhaps a stretching asana would have been. I have also learned that strength means more than just confronting one’s weaknesses; probably the most difficult “asana” of them all is standing on one’s own feet, questioning and analyzing for oneself the deeper meaning of asana, yoga, and life.

For this reason, the standing poses, developed so well by B.K.S. lyengar, are particularly valuable. In an age in which individual freedom is given tremendous lip service, it seems that people outsource their critical thinking in greater numbers than ever. If the ultimate freedom—freedom of the soul—does exist, it must begin with freedom of body, mind, and personality. The standing poses help the student to confront weaknesses, such as tightness in the legs, while developing the strength necessary to stand up in a vertical line, and an awareness of the value of standing on one’s own feet, both physically and mentally.

Parsvottanasana in Sanskrit

Parsvottanasana is an aptly named asana. “Parsva” means “side or flank” and “uttana” means an “intense stretch.” Thus the pose is an intense stretch to the sides of the chest.

Benefits of Parsvottanasana

Parsvottanasana (Intense Side Body Stretch or Pyramid Pose) is therefore a good pose for the beginner as well as experienced student; it helps the student become aware of, and then work on, any tightness in the legs and wrists, and sets the stage for other challenging work. The pose is also suitable for the more experienced student when the head is dropped closer to the shin, calling for greater extension.

It Stretches the Wrists

Anatomically, the pose works two basic areas. The first is the group of muscles known as the wrist flexors. This muscle group is found on the forearm and can be seen contracting when the palm is held upward, and the fist is clenched and brought toward the arm. These muscles are involved in most actions of the hand and wrist, and are used often in daily life in such common activities as picking up heavy objects, eating, writing, and playing musical instruments. Because these muscles are used so often they can become tight, and normally little is done to stretch them.

Picture 6 is a close-up of the hand position of the completed Parsvottanasana. The palms are pressed together, the fingers extended, and the shoulders rolled back and down. This position stretches the wrist flexors by reversing the action performed when the muscles are contracted. For the student whose shoulders are tight, picture 7 shows an alternative arm position, that may be used until the shoulders become more flexible.

Many students do not feel discomfort while holding this position of the arms and wrists, but may experience a sharp discomfort when coming out of the pose. This is usually not significant and disappears quickly. One remedy, however, is to bend over and press the back of the wrists (that part of the wrist on the opposite side of the arm from the palm) firmly to the floor for 10 to 15 seconds.

It Helps Release the Hamstrings

The second group of muscles worked in Parsvottanasana is in the legs. The lower leg, or calf muscles (gastroc-soleus group), and the upper posterior (back) leg muscles are involved. The hamstrings, in particular, must be released in order for the student to bend forward with a straight back (picture 3).

The straightness of the back in a forward bend is dependent upon the movement of the pelvis forward, around the axis of the heads of the femurs (thigh bones). The pelvis is attached to the hamstrings on one end and to the spinal column at the other, through the sacroiliac joint. (The sacro-iliac is formed by the union of the ilium bone of the pelvis with the sacrum of the vertebral column.) If the spine is to remain straight, the pelvis must be allowed to tip. In order to achieve this, the hamstrings must be loose. If not, the pelvis will be held stationary and the forward bending action of the pose will be achieved by rounding the back, placing a strain on the lower back structures.

By bending forward with a maximum use of the pelvis, the spine is held in a more stable position and the work of the pose is felt in the hamstrings. Then the vulnerable area of the lumbar spine is less likely to be injured in forward bends.

It Teaches Discernment

One way to view the discomfort is to realize that the pose has allowed the stiffness of the wrists, for instance, to surface. Yoga does not place the stiffness in the body; rather, it is a technique for making us aware of our limitations so that these limitations may be dissolved. Yoga offers a reminder of how daily life dulls us to the realities of body and mind. The discomfort therefore is a necessary component of practice.

Without discomfort, it is very difficult for the mind to focus on the internal aspects of the asana. With a little discomfort, the mind is made to sit up and take notice, the breath must be channeled, and the whole being comes into the present. This process of coming into the moment is the beginning of meditation.

It should be remembered, however, that the experience of discomfort should not be overdone. There is a difference between “good pain” and “bad pain.” Good pain is the discomfort which allows us to examine our limitations, be they physical or mental. Bad pain happens when we push the body or mind too far. Bad pain can indicate an injury and it will certainly disallow any conscious witnessing of the discomfort.

How to Practice Parsvottanasana

Stand in Tadasana or Mountain Pose (arms at the sides, head level, feet parallel and together), make sure to keep the kneecaps drawn up and the legs quite straight.

Place the hands in the “namaste” position (picture 6) or in the variation shown in picture 7. Jump the feet 3 to 3 ½ feet apart on the inhalation. Turn to face the right leg (picture 4).

Bend forward with an exhalation (picture 3) keeping the knees tight, the back straight, and the shoulders rolled back. Turn the right foot out 90 degrees and then turn the left foot in 75 or 80 degrees, swinging the trunk so that you are now bending forward as demonstrated in picture 5.

Hold the pose for several breaths and then revolve to face the left leg. Come up with an inhalation and a straight back. Repeat the pose, starting with the left leg.

When you have finished and have come up out of the pose, jump the feet together, release the hands, and breathe normally for ashort time.

For students with tight hamstrings, a mat can be placed under the hands (picture 2) so that the spine can be kept elongated and the knees straight. As the student progresses, the head can be brought closer and closer to the shin until the completed pose is achieved (picture 1).

Note: The author gratefully acknowledges her teacher B.K.S. Iyengar, and his book Light on Yoga, in the writing of this article.