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Mandalasana Enhances Your Confidence & Agility

woman bending on ground

The Circle Pose of Yoga Resists Asthma, Sciatica & Sinusitis

By doing the Mandalasana, you test your body’s agility, ability to balance, bear you body’s weight on your wrists and ankles and test the dexterity of your reflexes. This pose has the same benefits of many poses such as the Chakrasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Shirishasana and a few more. The veracity of this statement will be clear when you read about the process of doing this very challenging exercise.

How to do the Mandalasana

Circle Pose of Yoga

Lie on the mat face up and bend your legs from the knees. Place your feet flat on the mat with a width equal to your hip between your feet. This will help you to maintain your balance during the steps that follow.

Bend your knees and lift your legs. Now move your arms towards your legs and grip your ankles with your palms. Apply pressure with your soles and lift your back while keeping your upraised thighs parallel to the floor. This way your thighs support the upward movement of your back.

Release the hold of your hands on your ankles and bring your arms near your head. Bend your arms from your elbows while placing your palms on the mat. Your palms should be alongside your ears and your fingertips should point towards your feet.

Push your shoulders up by applying pressure with your palms till your back forms an arch. Now raise your legs fully to lift your back further up so that it rests on the full length of your arms and legs. Stiffen the muscles of your neck to prevent your head from drooping between your arms, as your shoulders rise. After your hip is raised up to the highest level permitted by your limbs, pause before the next challenging step.

Now stiffen your arms and lift one of your palms say your right palm from the mat and turn your hip and the free arm to the left side. As you twist your hip, you should release your right leg too and move it along with your hip and arm towards the left. Both your limbs should rotate over your torso and turn your torso towards the left side. This is a very skillful move requiring strength, agility and caution. While doing this step, any jerky move can sprain your back. So go about it carefully and make use of the momentum to take your right arm and right leg over your torso and land them on the left beyond your left arm and left leg.

In the above move, your torso has turned a full circle and while you started from a face up position, you are now in a face down position. The graphic displayed with this article, will give you an idea of the kind of twist the Manadalasana involves.

How to Come Out of the Mandalasana

Image by John02420

You can come out from the Mandalasana when you are in the face down position. Stiffen your arms and legs and drag your palms along the mat closer to your feet. When they are close enough for you to raise your hip, lift your palms off the mat and straighten your hip and raise your torso. Breathe easy and relax after doing this acrobatic pose.

Benefits of the Mandalasana

As this pose stretches your throat and thorax and opens your larynx it elongates your rib cage and creates space around the heart, lungs and abdomen and clears the breathing tract. So this helps in combating asthmatic disorders. This pose also nourishes your thyroid and pituitary glands. In addition, due to the severe concave bend of the pose, your spine, hip and limbs become flexible. It also builds your body’s resistance to back and hip related ailments like sciatica, slipped disc, osteoporosis and other bone related disorders.

Due to the added flow of blood to the brain and sinuses this pose also strengthens your body’s resistance to sinusitis. It also tones and nourishes the muscles of your limbs, triceps, biceps, thighs, calves and shoulders. The increased circulation of blood to all parts of the body enhances your confidence in your physical ability and sharpens your agility.

Who Should Not Do the Mandalasana

The Mandalasana is meant for serious, young, strong and agile students of yoga. Only those whose professions need acrobatic skills will find this exercise very relevant. Gymnasts, acrobats and breakdancers should practice this asana. Normal and casual students of yoga can obtain the benefits of the Mandalasana by doing the Chakrasana and the Adho Mukha Svanasana.

In any case, this exercise should be learned under the close supervision and guidance of a qualified yoga therapist. And before doing this exercise do consult your doctor.

Eat Food with High Nutrient Value

Insist on food with high nutrient value. Eat non-greasy, high fiber and low calorie food. This can supplement your yoga exercises and help you to get the best out of them.