Eka Pada Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (One Legged Bride Pose) registers as 11* on the scale of difficulty.
Like Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, Eka Pada Bandha Sarvangasana helps the practitioner to develop a healthy and supple spine. As Iyengar states, “A healthy and flexible spine indicates a healthy nervous system. If the nerves are healthy, a man is sound in mind and body.” A healthy body creates a healthy nervous system; a healthy nervous system creates a healthy body.
Every yoga pose works toward both of these aims. In every single asana, specific parts of the body receive essential strength conditioning, stretching and relaxation and specific parts of the nervous system are engaged or disengaged for therapeutic effect. When we perform the yoga postures associated with a full class, we experience the most complete array of mind/body benefits.
When I arise from my yoga mat after a deep, long practice, I feel both completely depleted and completely replenished. I used to associate this feeling with just the physical exertion of an asana practice, but now I know that this feeling goes deeper to include the exertion and release of all the subtler aspects of my body: the nervous system, the chakras, the vayus (directions of prana within the body). I cherish this sense of wholeness and bliss almost like a sacred secret. While to the outside observer, my yoga practice may just look like a good workout, I know that it’s benefits carry through to a deeper, enigmatic space within. That knowledge is just one of the countless reasons I roll out my mat every day.
How do the deeper effects of your yoga practice inspire you to roll out your mat?
