Judith Lasater's Favorite Poses

by Nina

In her interview with us (see Judith Lasater on Yoga and Aging), Judith Lasater mentioned the poses that she currently practices, citing "especially Viparita Karanai (Legs Up the Wall pose), Supported Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) on the chair and Supported Halasana (Plow pose) on the Halasana bench." By chance—or maybe not by chance if you stop to think about it—those are some of my favorite poses, and I recently had a friend take some photos of me doing them so I could share them on the blog. Then, as it happened, someone left a comment on the interview with Judith, asking us to share two of the poses with you: the Shoulderstand in a Chair and Supported Halasana with a Halasana bench. That was the kick in the pants I needed. (We've covered Viparita Karani many times on the blog—see Featured Pose: Legs Up the Wall pose.)

Here is a photo of the Shoulderstand in a Chair. I'm doing the pose with my legs straight up because that's the way I prefer doing it. Some people, however, practice this pose in more of a backbend, with their legs supported on a bolster and their feet over the back of the chair. But I find that position less comfortable.

Shoulderstand in a Chair

And here is a photo of Supported Halasana (Plow pose), sometimes called Arda Halasana (Half Plow pose). Okay, fine, I don't have a Halasana bench (a specially designed piece of furniture), but you probably don't, either. So I use a chair for Supported Halasana, instead. Yes, the good news is that you don't need a special piece of furniture to do this pose, but if you are using a chair, you need one that has no bar between the two front legs because you need to be able to get your head underneath the chair seat. And you also need a chair that either has no back panel or that has a space between the panel and the seat that is large enough to fit your legs through (I'm on the small side, so I can use a chair that has a back panel).

Supported Halasana

If you've never done these poses before, you may be wondering how the heck you get into them. Since I practice them all the time, and teach them whenever I teach yoga for better sleep, stress management or emotional wellbeing, I can tell you! However, quite frankly the process is complex enough that I've decided to do separate posts for each of the poses (we took photos of all the steps in and out of them, which will make that easier). But I will tell you that it's like learning to drive a car; at first the process is complicated and a little stressful, but with practice you get to a point where getting in and out becomes automatic and you don't even have to think about it anymore.

So it they take so much practice to learn, why should you bother? Well, as many of you know by now, I'm a huge fan of inverted poses in general (see Just in Time for Holidays: Inverted Poses). Because you are upside down in these poses, they automatically trigger the relaxation response (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors). And perhaps because these poses are slightly more physically active than restorative poses, the rest they provide feels more refreshing to me. So when I'm fatigued, a supported inversion practice is just the trick. These two poses provide the extra advantage of placing your legs higher than your heart (as well as your heart higher than your head). Having your legs higher than your heart means that gravity helps return the blood in your legs to your heart, improving your circulation and reducing swelling in your feet, ankles and legs. So these poses are wonderfully restorative for your legs when you've been on your feet all day, whether standing for your work, walking or running.

Chair Shoulderstand is one of the most soothing inverted poses because you are both supported and completely inverted. Although full Shoulderstand is considered a calming pose, the reality is that for most people—even relatively flexible people like me—the unsupported pose just is not that comfortable. Chair Shoulderstand, on the other hand, is very comfortable and you can hold the position for quite a while. I like to hold it for at least 6 minutes, because I can feel my "quiet switch" turn on after around 5 minutes. And you can do the Chair Shoulderstand in place of full Shoulderstand in any sequence. 

Supported Halasana is a very quieting pose because you fold inward in addition to being inverted. Furthermore, as you hang from your hips in this pose, the traction on your back that this pose provides feels wonderful, particularly if your lower back is bothering you. That said, I really don't think this pose is for everyone. People who don't have flexible necks can find the extreme forward bending of the neck (flexion) in this pose uncomfortable. And some people with round bodies find it very difficult if not impossible to fold their bodies into this position. In this case, turning the pose upside down into a seated forward bend with head support is great alternative.

Supported Seated Forward Bend

Typically, if you were going sequence Judith's three favorite poses, you would do Chair Shoulderstand first, then Supported Halasana, and finally end with Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall).

Tip: for women with large breasts, which tend to fall into your face in these poses, I recommend tying a strap around your upper chest before going into the pose.

Judith Lasater on Yoga and Aging

After the Fire by Brad Gibson

As Shari and I were discussing our series on menopause and perimenopause, Shari had the idea of contacting her former teacher, well-known yoga writer Judith Lasater, to see if she had some advice for us. To our delight, Judith agreed to do a brief interview with us for the blog. After some back and forth, we decided to ask her a single question. We love her answer, and hope that you will find it inspiring. —Nina and Shari

Q: You've been practicing yoga since you were a young woman. As you went through peri-menopause and menopause, how did you change your personal practice to address your symptoms and adapt to your changing body?

Judith: When I began my yoga practice in 1970, I had the idea that I would pretty much be following the same practice routine forever that I had established from the beginning.

Nothing has been further from the truth. At the beginning I adapted my life to fit my practice. I started going to bed earlier so that I could awaken to practice in a quiet morning environment. I changed my diet, what I read, who I hung out with, and soon, my job, as I decided to begin teaching yoga.

But over the years, the opposite has happened. Gradually my practice has evolved to fit my life. There were adaptations with pregnancy, motherhood, and, of course, with peri-menopause and menopause.

Hopefully with aging one becomes more naturally introspective and less influenced by the external world. As I entered peri-menopause, I noticed a definite shift of my interest. It was as if a “natural” pratyahara was taking place.

I wanted to meditate longer, practice pranayama longer, and my asana practice changed as well. Soon fifty percent of my practice consisted of supported backbends and supported inversions, especially Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall pose), Supported Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) on the chair and Supported Halasana (Plow pose) on the Halasana bench.

I found I needed this intense internal focus time in my life to integrate not only the physical changes that I was experiencing, but also the life changes of parenting teenagers and young adults. Additionally I was becoming the major emotional and familial support for an aging mother.

When I chatted with other women yoga teachers my age, we found we were all moving in the same direction with our practice. We began to eschew so much action in the practice and instead were increasingly nourished by cultivating the receptive consciousness of quiet poses for at least half of our practice of asana.

The most important thing I learned about this process is a lesson I still learn repeatedly. I would distill this lesson into a “mantra” of these three words: Trust yourself first. This will guide you well as you transition through life’s stages.

Note from Nina: For photographs of Judith's favorite poses and more information on them, see Judith Lasater's Favorite Poses.

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT, has taught yoga since 1971. She is a founder of Yoga Journal magazine, President Emeritus of the California Yoga Teachers Association, and was selected by Natural Health Magazine in 2010 as the only yoga teacher out of five people honored for their contribution to promoting natural health in the US during the previous 40 years. She has written eight books on yoga including the most recent: What We Say Matters and YogaBody. See judithlasater.com for more information about Judith, her teaching schedule and her books.