POSE OF THE WEEK
MUDRA INVERSION
Viparita Karani
Pronounced: Vip-par-ee-tar car-ARN-ee
Sanskrit Meaning:
- Viparita = turned, reversed, inverted
- Karani = does, s/he who does
The name comes from the Sanskrit words viparita meaning “inverted” or “reversed”, and karani meaning “doing” or “making” and asana (आसन; āsana) meaning “posture” or “seat”(1)
Viparita Karani is the practice in which the pose is upside down. In Hatha Yoga viparita karani is also known as a mudra this means its purpose is for reversing the natural gravitational downward flow of energy upwards within the body. It revitalizes and expands the awareness. This pose assists in balancing the flow of breath equally through the nostrils & nadi and balances the energies of each chakra. This use of the pose differs from an asana which are used in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika to create stretching, settling, softness and steadiness for the purposes of coming into a meditative stillness.
The myth about Viparita Karani starts with a female child named ‘Ganga’who dwelt in the heavens with her family. She was naturally unruly, restless by nature with a tempestuous spirit.
The legend goes that upon the arrival of a great and illustrious Sage in her family home a wind arose that whipped around him, leaving him naked as his robes flew far with the tumultuous winds…. Ganga was highly amused by this and laughed outright at the Great and now naked Sage… The Great Sage was less amused with Ganga than the wind and as a reprimand for her mirth banished her to live life upon the earth. Although she did not understand it this was Ganga’s Dharma – her purpose. In this it is opportune and is the way each of us is given ‘strife’ to know change for the greater good.
In a fit of passionate temper Ganga began to throw herself upon the earth as the beautiful waterway known as Mother Ganga or the Ganges.
The Sage knowing Ganga’s temperament realised that the force with which she was pouring herself upon the earth would cause harm, and so bound her energy in the turban he wore; gradually slowing her fall from a passionate rush to the gently falling waters from heaven. Entering through the soles, you feel her energy in this mudra Viparita Karani first on the soles of your feet where she is now flowing gently. Cooled in herself and calming in her touch. She swirls her energy down around the feet and ankles purifying as she goes – her passion replaced with the balm of gentle purificative energy, swirling and massaging down the legs. She lingers cooling and cleansing and purifying through the thighs, hips, pelvis and belly her essence calming everywhere it touches. Swirling now around the chest the spine the shoulders and arms and hands, eddying through the neck and around the spine, bathing and massaging around each vertebrae and then to the heart and finally the head where the mind is cleansed, calmed and cooled. Pooling into the third eye. She is now a deep abiding nourishing and supportive ‘Mother’. You are completely bathed in Ganga’s water energy in Viprita Karani.Flowing through you from feet to crown.
Physically this is the link between the buy-ness of life Shiva and the calmness we need Shakti to ‘live in abundance’. The imagery and the change created by reversing the energy flow enhances the body’s ability to balance itself. If you are to physically enter the Ganges you do it ‘feet’ first.
To Move Into The Pose
Lie on the back.
Legs and feet together
Hands and palms beside the body face down.
Relax the whole body.
Bend knees and lift feet off the floor.
Gently swing the legs over the torso and head.
Push down, bracing the pose with the arms.
Using the abs, roll the spine up from the tailbone off the floor and support it with the hands, elbows bent.
The weight of the body rests on the upper thoracic region of the torso.
The chin is relaxed not tucked tightly.
Close the eyes.
Like Lord Vishnu’s Couch this pose is one to savor, not to rush!
There are variations & modifications for this pose
Anatomy of the Pose
This is a symmetrical pose – it can be an asana or a mudra.
The legs:
Contracting are the knee extensors, hamstrings, glutes and adductors (vastii,gluteus maximus, adductor magnus, gracillis, semitendonosus, semimembranosus, biceps femorus).
The back:
Active spinal extensors (internal obliques, quadrates lumborum).
The abdomen/pelvis:
Active are the abdominal wall and core ( rectus abdominus, obliques, transverse abdominus, psoas major and minor ).
Shoulders and upper body:
Shoulder joint group, upper arm and elbow and forearm. (rhomboids, levator scapulae, rotator cuff group, triceps brachii, teres major, posterior deltoid, biceps brachii, brachialis, wrist flexors).
Physiology of the Pose
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In this pose the weight of the legs creates extension of the spine, bringing blood flow to the spine. The abs. are active with the inversion affecting the abdominal organs which assists in cleansing and elimination. The compression of the lungs for some practitioners will limit the length of time they can maintain the pose. As the pose is practiced the musculature provides more support enabling breathing to become easier.
Bibliography:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viparita_Karani
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K51Q7QNdnE8
- APMB, (2013) Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Yoga Publications Trust, Mungar, Bihar, India
- Leslie Kaminoff – Yoga Anatomy
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