A Transformative yoga pose it is “Eight angle pose”. This pose is dedicated to the boy astavakra, the spiritual guru of King Janaka. Apparently,when the boy was in his mommy’s womb, his father made some mistakes while reciting the Vedas. Hearing these, the unborn child laughed. The father became enraged and cursed his son to be born as Astavakra. So it came to pass that he was born crooked in eight places. These crooks earned him the name Ashtavakra or Eight Crooks. Yet His father was later defeated in a philosophical debate then the boy, a natural scholar of great ability went to court and avenged his father’s defeat by beating the court scholar in argument and becoming the guru of Janaka. Accordingly, his father blessed him and his deformity vanished.
Its a Sanskrit word asta meaning “eight”, vakra meaning “curved”.
Due to the beautiful nature of yoga, a pose stems much deeper allowing us to explore our mental flexibility. The expression of the pose should engage the SOUL rather than the ego. The boy Astavakra says, “If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound.” Metaphorically the deformed boy’s epiphany depicts that we are sometimes bound by our own definitions of ourselves and cling to our limitations completely fabricated from our “fears”. But by shifting our thoughts and letting go of these mental blocks we are able to align with our true nature and spirit with exquisite vastness. With breath, love, and practice we are able to discover an arm balance with surprising tenderness of the spirit and a smile on our face.
This pose will help strengthen and lengthen the hips, core, and arms. With the natural twist of the pose it also helps strengthen the mobility of the spinal column, while also aiding in digestion and releasing the body of toxins.
#Happyyogaing ???♂️
