Peak Pose: Baddha Konasana – Hugger Mugger

I like to sequence my asana classes in an arc. This means we start slowly, progress to more complicated poses, and then return to a long, luxurious Savasana. We practice one or more “peak” poses in the middle of the practice. When we think of the concept of peak pose, we often think of extreme bends and arm balances – poses inaccessible to most people due to skeletal restrictions. In truth, some of the most humble, seemingly pedestrian poses—seated forward bends—are actually more difficult than they seem. Today we’ll explore how to sequence a class to work toward Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose) as our peak pose.

Not all hip joints are made for Baddha Konasana

Baddha Konasana may seem simple, but there is actually a lot that goes into making it safe for the body to practice. First, you need to have a hip joint structure that allows for extreme external rotation and abduction. Stretching the obvious muscles – inner thighs, quads, hips and hamstrings – is helpful, but for someone whose hip sockets are placed more forward, and especially if those sockets are deep, no amount of flexibility will allow knees to reach the ground.

It is therefore important to understand that the goal is not to put your knees on the ground. The goal is to find a feeling of ease and balance in the pose you’re practicing, no matter what it looks like. Still, there are ways to increase ease, even if your hip joints aren’t designed for external rotation.

Focus on your spine

If your knees are not close to the floor in this pose, it may be more helpful to focus on the position of your spine rather than your thighs. When the knees are higher than the anterior superior iliac spines (hip bones), it is quite difficult to tilt the pelvis forward so that your spine can maintain its natural curves. If this is you, sit on several folded yoga blankets, place your hands near your hips, and press down on your blankets to help tilt your pelvic edge forward. Unless you can lean forward by leading with the pelvis (not the waist), I would not recommend leaning forward.

Here are the actions needed to practice healthy Baddha Konasana:

• External rotation
• Abduction (the thigh bone extends from the center; this means the adductors (inner thigh muscles) should lengthen)
• Neutral spine (the curves of the spine have their natural “S” shape)

Preparation poses for Baddha Konasana

In order to prepare the body for Baddha Konasana, we must both warm up and stretch the muscles that create these actions. Of course, many yoga poses can be helpful. I offer some suggestions below, but it can be a fun exploration to consider the poses in terms of these actions and add your own ideas to the sequence. The links below contain detailed instructions for each pose listed.

Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Forward Bend Pose)

I like to start with standing poses because they simultaneously strengthen (warm) and stretch the leg muscles. This particular pose focuses on the inner thighs and hamstrings. When you practice, engage your inner thighs by pulling them toward your hip joints.

Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II)

Warrior poses are strong, warm poses. Warrior II, in particular, supports abduction of both legs and external rotation of the bent leg.

Trikonasana (triangle pose)

Like Warrior II, Trikonasana supports abduction and external rotation, but it also adds hamstring stretching to the mix.

Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)

Ardha Chandrasana supports external rotation and abduction, and further stretches the hamstrings. It also warms the standing leg muscles.

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (Extended Hand to Big Toe Pose)

If you look at this pose, you can see that it has essentially the same shape as Ardha Chandrasana and Supta Padangusthasana, but with a different orientation relative to gravity. It further warms the standing leg muscles and promotes abduction and external rotation.

Ardha Virasana (Half-Hero Pose)

Now that you’ve warmed up your leg muscles, you can start focusing on stretching. I like to start with the quads. Of course, if your knee is uncomfortable in this pose, please modify it or skip it. The quads should already be pretty warmed up after all the standing poses, so you can skip this if it’s a problem for your knees.

Supta Padangusthasana (Hand to Big Toe Reclining Pose)

The first two variations of this pose (stretching the right leg up and stretching it out to the side) can help loosen the hamstrings and adductors.

Janu Sirsasana (Head to Knee Forward Bend Pose)

In this pose, the bent knee is in Baddha Konasana position. It may be helpful to stretch the adductors one at a time in this position before attempting to stretch both adductors simultaneously. Make sure you sit on enough support so your pelvis can initiate the forward bend.

Upavista Konasana (Seated Angle Pose)

It should be obvious why this pose would be useful for stretching the adductors. It also allows you to stretch the hamstrings a little more.

Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)

Finally! It’s time to practice the pointe pose. Remember that it is not important to place your knees on the ground. Instead, the most helpful action is to extend the inner thighs outward from the pelvis. As always, make sure you have enough support under your hips so your spine can be straight.

Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend Pose)

A relaxed Paschimottanasana will help you transition into an easy Savasana.

If you’re short on time, feel free to skip some of these poses. They all support Baddha Konasana, but you don’t necessarily have to practice them all to benefit from them.

If you would like more information on hip-healthy practice, check out this book: Hip-Healthy Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Guide to Protecting the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Pain.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell discovered yoga in 1982 and began teaching in 1986. Charlotte is the author of Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice, and Yoga for Meditators, both published by Rodmell Press. Her third book is Hip-Healthy Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Guide to Protecting the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Pain (Shambhala Publications). She writes a monthly column for CATALYST magazine and is the editor-in-chief of Yoga U Online. Charlotte is a founding board member of GreenTREE Yoga, a nonprofit organization that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte plays oboe and English horn in the Salt Lake Symphony and the folk sextet Red Rock Rondo, whose DVD won two Emmy Awards.