Hanumanasana

Hanumanasana is one of my favorite peak pose in yoga. Even before I started yoga, I always liked it in my dance practices years ago. Many people think that as long as your legs are flexible, you should be able to get into the pose. The fact is that hanumanasana requires both leg flexibility and hip opening. With this knowledge, I designed a sequence to enable both, and it aims to assist you to get into stable hanumansana position with diligent practice.
The sequences start with a few poses on the mat, e.g happy baby, sleeping thumb to foot stretch (supta padangustasana A & B, followed by deeper hip openings in seated position, e.g butter fly pose and ankle to knee pose. I would highlight a few things for the ankle to knee pose here: 1. Your shins should be in parallel with the front edge of your mat. Many people “think ahead”, knowing that they will be required to fold upper body, they will shift the ankles away from knees and closer to the hip. If you do so, the hip won’t feel a deep enough stretch. 2. For people who are still some distance from the full split (e.g hip 5cm above the ground), the upper knee can rise much higher vs. your upper ankle. This is perfectly ok. My approach is to fold your upper body toward the higher knee side, then walk your palms to the center. In this way, your knees will be lowered down to the same level with the other side.
The last part is a combination of deep stretch of hamstrings and hip openings poses inserted to flow. I chose high lunge, low lunge, pigeon, lizard, and all the way from three legged down-dog to standing split. The last part it’s split it’s self on your mat. I recommend a small towel to be placed below your front heel. It reduces friction between your foot and the mat, and enables you to get into the position more smoothly.
Lucia