Where do you put your hand in triangle pose?

Triangle pose or trikonasana is one of my favourites. Trampers will love the stretches for the side body and legs. Cyclists will love the core strength without a sit up.

However there is one very small alignment decision that can have a very big impact.

Triangle pose is frequently shown with the lower hand hovering off the floor (or for people with long arms and incredible flexibility, pressing on the floor!).

Where you put that hand makes a major difference in the benefits and sometimes negative effects of the pose.

If your hand is hovering off the floor, you have to use quite a bit of core strength to hold your upper body up. Building core strength is good, but if your muscles aren’t strong enough or you have a vulnerable back, you could easily injure back muscles or make back pain worse.

In addition, your ability to lean sideways depends heavily on your leg, hip and back flexibility (as well as how long your arms are). If you force your body sideways so you can reach the floor, something will have to give and again you could injure your back.

If you press the lower hand on your lower leg, you gain several benefits. You give your back and core muscles some support. This allows the muscles around your abdomen to slightly release and this allows you to have better movement in your hips and pelvis.

That in turn means the pose will be easier and safer for you back and hips, but it will also allow you to more easily find a stretch in the side of your body.

So does this mean that you should never let your hand hover? Of course not. It just means you need to think about what is the best option for you. And you can always do both.

Here’s an easy option to try both:

1. Follow the directions to come in to triangle pose.
2. First bring your lower hand to your shin or thigh – whichever feels less strain on your back. You could also use a chair or block on the floor to find the perfect height. Don’t press on your knee cap – your knees won’t appreciate that much!
3. Press into your hand and take time with the extra support to check out all the other parts of your body (feet, legs, hips, back, sides of body, shoulders, chest).
4. If you don’t have current back injuries, now slightly take your hand off your leg. If it’s painful put your hand back. If not, you could let the hand hover slightly off your leg and notice the difference in your core muscles, particularly the abdominals.
5. If that feels Ok, you could hover for a few seconds, put your hand back and then repeat.