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Garudasana ( Eagle Pose ) - Issues and solutions

List of some of the issues that can be relevant for practising this pose:

Garudasana Potential Problem Areas Image

            · Balance

            · Upper Trunk, Shoulders and Arms

            · Lumbar Spine and Sacro-iliac joints

            · Hips and Legs

            · Feet and Ankles

            Pregnancy





Balance

In terms of balance, this can be quite a challenging pose. This is less so with modified versions where the foot of the unweighted leg is resting on the floor on the outside of the foot of the standing leg (instead of the foot being hooked around the ankle of the standing leg.) And, as always with balance, it can be a great help to have a focus (such as a mark on the floor) to let one’s gaze rest upon. One can also practise with one’s back to a wall and allow the back to rest against the wall. Those who find balance difficult, but still want to experience the meditative aspect of the pose, may find flying eagle (arms lifted sideways to shoulder level, one leg to the side with just toes on the floor) a useful option.


Upper Trunk, Shoulders and Arms

There are many reasons to find achieving the arm position of this pose difficult (or impossible). These include:- bulky upper arm and chest muscles (a similar effect will be experienced if one wears a couple of thick jumpers), large breasts, and tightness in muscles such as the rhomboideus, trapezius, supraspinatus, back part of deltoid and possibly teres major and latissimus dorsi.

In the case of large breasts, one may find it necessary to have the elbows a little higher than others do – and it may not be able to draw the arms so low in some of the variations of the arm position. However, the standard arm position has the elbows level with the collarbones, which shoulder feel comfortable and doable no matter how large the breasts.

Perhaps the easiest modification of the arm position is to wrap the arms around the shoulders in a hug – this has a similar, but much lesser, effect of stretching across the back of the shoulders/upper back. From the arms wrapped round the shoulders, one can move the forearms towards vertical, and then to pressing back of forearms/hands into each other – if this position is comfortable, it is a small step from here to go into the full version of the arm position.


Lumbar Spine and Sacro-iliac joints

In the standing eagle, the lumbar spine remains in close to its neutral, natural shape. In squatting eagle, however, the lumbar spine is in a significant forward bend. For those with a significant degree of lumbar lordosis, this can feel like a good release (especially when they have been standing all day). But those who have over-done forward bending, especially with lifting heavy loads, may find the squatting eagle causes discomfort and in this case it should not be practised.

The key feature of both the standing and squatting eagle is the opening (pulling apart) of the sacro-iliac joints – this effect is greater for the squatting eagle. For most people, this is very helpful, as it can be great for both releasing tension/compression from around this area (cf. issues with Warrior 2 and Iyengar-style triangle) and for encouraging these joints to adjust to a better alignment. But, as with most things, this can be taken too far and recent trauma to the area (say from landing heavily on the pelvic girdle area) can leave the area too tender to practise the full version. Those who want to enjoy the pose without pulling the sacro-iliac joint strongly open, can practise the pose with the toes of the unweighted leg resting on the floor on the outside of the foot of the standing leg, or they can rest the foot of the unweighted leg against the outside of the lower part of the standing leg.


Hips and Legs

As with the arm position, the ability to achieve the leg position can be reduced by muscle bulk. Where this is the case, one can put the foot of the unweighted leg against the outside of the standing leg (instead of hooking it around the back of the ankle of the standing leg).

The legs are in adduction so the hip-abducting muscles may be stretched – but I have yet to see tightness in these muscles as limiting.

The knees are potentially a little vulnerable in the semi-flexed position – but they don’t feel particularly stressed to me. Those with knee problems would be sensible to follow practice of this pose with a knee-aligning exercise (e.g. moving between upright kneeling and kneeling with buttocks on heels) just to check that knees have not been pulled out of alignment by the pose.


Feet and Ankles

If the muscles of the lower leg are weak, then the stability of the feet and ankles may be affected, giving one poor balance. Practising versions which are less challenging for balance will help with developing the muscles strength needed to improve balance. If legs are really weak, a similar sort of pose could be achieved from sitting on a chair – one leg placed over the other at the thighs and then lower leg drawn backward to allow the foot to be hooked around the back of ankle/calf of the other leg.


Pregnancy

Practising yoga in the first trimester is considered by most yoga teachers to be contra-indicated. The only explanation I have heard for this is that in the first trimester there is a fairly high tendency for spontaneous miscarriage and this could in principle be exacerbated by yoga (although, as far as I know, there is no evidence for this). Possibly a mid-wife or an expert pregnancy yoga teacher might be able to give a better explanation.

The opening of the sacro-iliac joint that occurs in the full standing and squatting eagle pose is generally inappropriate during pregnancy and for a while following the birth. (It may in some circumstances be helpful in a therapeutic sense – but in that case one would want to be guided by an appropriate expert.) The reason is that, during pregnancy, hormones are released to encourage a softening and opening of joints, particularly those of the pelvic girdle area, to facilitate the enlargement of the passageway for the baby during the birth. And this makes the joints and associated ligaments very vulnerable to over-opening, and over-stretching. Thus, during pregnancy, one’s practice of the pose should be adapted to avoid pulling open the sacro-iliac joints. This means placing the foot of the unweighted leg either on the floor outside of the standing leg or placing the toes on the floor outside the foot of the standing leg.

Another issue that needs to be borne in mind, in the later stages of pregnancy, is that the womb starts to press against the inferior vena cava (main vein in the trunk) and the aorta (main artery). This has implications for blood circulation to and from the legs. It is thus unwise to hold the leg part of standing postures - with risks of discomfort, tiredness (in legs) and an increased likelihood, over the long term, of getting varicose veins or tissue fluid issues (oedema) in the legs. So, moving between the flying eagle (arms lifted sideways to shoulder level and one leg to the side with just toes on the floor) and a modified standing eagle might make a good option – if one takes care to alternate regularly which leg is treated as the standing leg.

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