Natarajasana - The Sooner You Push Up ^ With That Back Leg The Better

Let's work on a bit of visual imagery with natarajasana.

This pose doesn't actually start, until your back thigh, is up past parallel to the floor.

So, the guy in the above pic, has his lifted leg just under parallel to the floor. If he lifts his back knee another 12 inches, it'll be past parallel.

This is an important milestone (when the back knee is higher than the hips). Here's why.

With the knee higher than the hips,  you get access to pushing upwards linearly.

The importance of this change in action can't be understated.

That right angle in the guys pose (between the lifted leg and the standing leg), saps huge amounts of energy from the pose.

Past parallel he'll be pushing down through the standing leg, and straight up, through the lifted leg.

Ummm...try this...put your hands on a wall and push away.

Now stand in a doorway. Reach up and push up against the top of the door jamb. Put some effort into it.

You'll notice that you can exert heaps more outward power, when pushing linearly under the door jamb.

In the two examples, the right angle nataraj is like pushing against the wall. That right angle kills the pose. It's hard to transfer energy through a bend.

When your leg is past parallel, you have unlimited ability to push upwards. All that leg strength acting in a linear motion. Powerful.

Ok. So here's the main take away...

...you gotta hit nataraj hard, until the leg is past parallel.

The gains literally pour on, when you can access the power of linear motion. Especially when using the body's most powerful muscles (legs, glutes).

In a future post, I'll show you a method of supercharging your nataraj practice. Easy, but powerful.

Be royal, J

P.S. Here's a pic of someone with their leg past para. She's pushin' up through that lifted leg. The power you can use in a straight line is awesome. Especially, when the legs are involved.