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I have always found chair pose (utkatasana, or "fierce pose") to be a challenging posture for me, and every couple of years I realise that I have been doing different elements of the pose incorrectly. In my recent YTT, I worked on this pose quite a bit, and here is what I have come up with.

First, start working your alignment from the foundation.

• Your feet should either be together, or a small distance apart (i.e. aligned underneath the sitting bones);
• Your weight should be evenly distributed between the heels and balls of the feet - don't rock back onto your heels or lean too much into your toes;
• When you bend your knees, look down along your nose: you should be able to see your toes over your knees.

Once the foundation is set up, move your focus to the pelvis and lower back.  Here we continue in the spirit of my post about pelvic alignment in the transition from plank to upward dog, and apply the same fundamental principles.

Remember that a lot depends on the natural alignment of your spine, in this case of your lower back and pelvis.  There is no one-size-fits-all rule for spinal alignment because we are all starting from very different places! So:

• If you naturally have a pronounced lumbar curve, you will probably need to tuck your pelvis and reduce that curve; 
• If you naturally have a very flat lumbar spine, you will want to encourage your pelvis to tilt forward a bit and allow your back to retain some curve;
• If you have a pretty "neutral" spine and pelvis, then you don't need to do much except maintain that neutrality.

Next, move upwards from the pelvis:

• Engage the abdominals and draw the belly button towards the spine;
• Lengthen the sides of the torso and lift the collarbones;
• Drop the shoulders back and down;
• Engage the arms as if they could lift you higher in the pose! I have tight shoulders so I keep my hands shoulder-width apart. If even this causes too much tightness, you can also practice the pose with your hands in prayer

Finally, bring your attention to the top of the spine:

• Keep your neck and head in line with your spine (it feels like you are tucking your chin slightly, instead of craning your neck forward);
• Keep your gaze (drishti) straight down along your nose.
• Smile!

I'd love to hear if anyone has tips or stories to share about this pose. :)

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Yesterday, I posted a Youtube video of Kino doing Surya Namaskars A and B (see this post). In the post, I observed that in Surya B, Kino goes into a full squat before coming up into Utkatasana in Ekam position. I found that to be very interesting, and speculated that perhaps she does this in order to work or activate the quadriceps muscles more. 

I speculated some more after I wrote the post. Finally, I decided that rather than continue to speculate, it would be much more fruitful to hear it straight from the proverbial horse's mouth (do people still use this figure of speech?). So I emailed Kino and asked her why she does this. She replied earlier today, and has given me permission to share her response with the rest of the blogosphere. Kino writes:

"By coming into a full squat during the Surya Namaskara B you can more easily activate the bandhas and begin kindling the internal fire of the Ashtanga Yoga practice. In my personal practice I do this not to use the legs or quadriceps but to inwardly rotate the thighs with a careful application of mula bandha. By doing so I find that the inner agni channels are more actuated. It also provides good inner suction around the lower regions of the pelvis that help support the back for many more complicated movements later. There is no absolute right or wrong way to move the body and various positions and actions may be useful for a period of time so it is important to remember to experiment and try out anything you see someone else doing and see if it works for you. But when the time comes to change it is also important to have an open mind to the constant evolution of the practice and ultimately of the human spirit."

So going into a full squat during Surya B can function to activate the bandhas more, kindle the internal fire, and prepare the back for more complicated movements later. Interesting. I'll work with this in my next practice, and see how this actualizes itself in my body.

I thought I'll share this here. Perhaps you might find this insightful and useful to your practice too.

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