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TUTORIAL: Butterfly Pose

Sep 1, 2016 | YOGA

TUTORIAL
Butterfly Pose

 

Kiana Ng Yoga

Baddha Konasana

Butterfly pose really works on that external rotation happening in your hips and thighs. This pose can vary with heels pulled in close to the groin or taken away to make a large diamond shape with the legs. Below is the geography for heels pulled close.

Alignment Principles

  • Start in a seated position and take flesh out from under seat
  • Bring soles of the feet to touch, letting the knees drop out and away from each other
  • Place hands behind hips facing away from you, coming up on finger tips to tent the fingers
  • Inhale to lengthen the spine
  • Exhale to push into floor with finger tips to roll pubic bone and pelvis forwards
  • If fold is deep enough, place hands on feet like you’re holding a book and let the feet fall open
  • Continuing to fold as you keep the spine long, optionally walk the hands out in front of the feet
  • If spine begins to round, pause and re-lengthen
  • Once you find your preferred depth of fold, rest forehead on block, hands, or feet

 

Prep. Poses:

  • Balasana (Wide-Legged Child’s Pose)
  • Janu Sirsasana (Head to Knee Pose)
  • Upavistha Konasana (Seated Wide-Legged Forward Fold)

Modifications/Variations:

  • If knees are high off mat, place blocks below knees
  • Sit on block or bolster to elevate hips and emphasize the rolling of the hips forwards
  • Take feet away from you to form a large diamond shape with the legs. Notice the difference between this variation vs. heels in variation

Living Through A Wider Lens

Sep 1, 2016 | EMPOWERMENT

LIVING THROUGH A WIDER LENS

 

Kiana Ng Yoga

It all started in the Summer of 2014 when I was taken to my first hot yoga class. At the time, I hadn’t really given yoga much thought and after that class, I still didn’t give it too much thought. I remember thinking about how hot it was in that room and how I had never sweat that much before in my entire life!

A couple months forward, I went to another yoga class with my intention at this point being for the workout. However, the classes I was doing started to become unappealing and this is around the time that I realized I was craving more of an internal practice that could meet my external practice. So I switched studios and went around searching for something that fulfilled this need.

About a month later, I found a new studio that I really liked and began practicing about 3x a week. It felt great! Upon this newfound yearning for an internal practice, this is when my life really opened up into the world of spirituality. I started buying books about yoga and spirituality that I had never thought I would be reading, but I kept being drawn back to them and found myself buying more & more. I found that the deeper I spiritually grew, the more my yoga practice evolved with me.

Meditation entered my life sometime after all of this and, again, this opened my eyes to a new world. I started experiencing new & exciting things, I started attracting people into my life who helped guide me on my journey into my Self, I looked at myself and others differently, I started to align myself with my Self and I experienced life more fully.

In the Fall of 2015, I took my yoga teacher training which continued to broaden my understanding of yoga, as well as my personal practice. It was the first time I had ever felt that yoga could be something I could turn my life into!

Fast forwarding to now, yoga IS my life. I practice 6x a week, I meditate every single day and I read these books that help me understand myself and the world around me. Each day that I put towards growing myself as a person, I feel more connected to everything and everyone, including myself and my purpose here. That’s one of the reasons why I started my business Kiana Ng Yoga: to create a space that helps the world move more deeply into themselves and experience the growth of their physical practice to strengthen their connection to the rest of the world, as well as to themselves.

Through it all, of course I have my ups and downs! There are moments when I doubt myself and feel so uninspired to practice or devote myself to this life that I found myself in. However, one of the lessons I’ve learned along the way is that there will always be challenges for you to overcome, especially when you’re aligned with your truth. The trick to see through these obstacles and keep going is to know that within the negative, there is a positive lesson to be learned. You just have to change your perspective on the whole, persevere and stay optimistic! As Pattabhi Jois says: “Practice & all is coming.”

With love,

 

Kiana

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