Twists are releasing tension, therefore they are highly recommended when you’ve been exposed to stress for a long time. Let’s be precise, when you’ve been thinking that things are not going well around you, which is often matter of perception. You find a conflict at work disturbing, threatening even, whereas it’s nothing serious reality, certainly it doesn’t put your life in danger. Yet your system has one way to react, pushing stress hormones out to the blood stream, brain and limbs to prepare you for flight or fight to protect your life.
Sometimes, on the other hand, you are not aware of the stressor. This happens most of the times with internal stressors, like chemical compounds entering your system that are difficult to process, and without knowing, your body keeps fighting them to protect you. The interesting thing is that regardless if the stressor is internal or external, the adrenal glands release different kind of stress hormones in response to stress. The strongest of all is cortisol. It has power above the hole body.
Cortisol gets released to the blood under normal circumstances as well, in fact in daily life cortisol plays a pivotal role in regulating your sleep and wake pattern. When you can’t handle stress, you feel cornered, you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, your sleep and wake pattern gets most likely messed up. And this will wrack havoc on a whole cascade of hormonal processes.
So prepare for doing twists often. If you feel worked up, upset and deeply frustrated, quickly look for space to engage in a twist. Depending on the size of the room choose hte position. This Triangle Pose needs some dedicated room, where others would not see you I suppose. But there are twists that you can do in smaller places less noticeably.
According to Hatha Yoga traditions doing twists we are wringing out all fluids from the twisted parts of the body, that will suddenly be flooded with nutrients as we release the twist, and this is supposed to be revitalising, energising. They activate detoxification in the reengaged body parts.
When you do these Triangle Poses you open groins, hip joints and chest. You stretch inner thigh muscles, strengthen buttocks, legs, quads, arches of the feet and abdominals. You improve breathing and increase circulation throughout the body.
The Magic of Triangle
Start with Mountain Pose (just stand with feet together), close your eyes and feeling your centre, wait for your decision to begin. Then take a deep breath and bring your hands into prayer position at the chest.
Extend the arms to the side and open your feet wide, then lean to the right sliding your right hand down the right leg all the way to the feet. Pull your abdominals in, lift your chest and gaze upward. Breath deep and slowly and stay here for half a minute.
When you are ready, inhale and you may accelerate the stretch and the challenge of balancing by bending your right knee. Keep the length you achieved on the left side of the body as you come into this pose, and maintain tight abdomen. Take couple of deep breath here before standing up straight.
Increase the challenge always with a tiny step