Yoga Asana: Plank Pose or Phalakasana
Each posture in the physical yoga practice has a Sanskrit name ending in asana. Asana means seat or posture. Today we will explore plank pose. Plank pose is known as both phalakasana and kumbhakasana in Sanskrit. Phalakasana seems to be more common and thus we will break down the Sanskrit for it. We see: phala which = to bear fruit or ripen, we also see phalaka which = plank or board, and asana which = seat. The origins of plank pose in the physical practice is murky and I could not find a source dating it to a historical text. Regardless, plank pose is a popular and extremely beneficial posture practiced in many movement and strength based modalities.
This brings us to the WHY behind phalakasana. While our conditioning might fast forward our thinking to immediately associate any yoga posture with its’ purely physical benefit, it is that very conditioning that lies at the heart of the why behind all of yoga. The physical postures are portals that give us access to the more subtle aspects of our being, such as the unconscious patterns of our thoughts of which result in our behavior. By working with the most dense layer of ourselves, our physicality, we awaken our awareness to places and spaces that have either been dormant, unacknowledged, or suppressed. So while it might look like we are generically doing a plank pose or a downward facing dog, we are really developing the skill of presence and accessing a deeper level of knowing who we are and why we are. This is the kind of examination necessary to achieve the goal of yoga, “svarupe vhastanum” or to reside in your true nature. That nature is a mystery to most of us. Yoga is the map to the hidden treasure of your truth.
The physical WHY behind phalakasana is more so about the strength than the stretch. Plank benefits the entire physical body, the arms, the legs, the glutes, the shoulders, the wrists, yet it is mainly associated with the strengthening of the core. Holding plank pose will increase your stamina and your stability in all other postures. Asana classes may use plank as a stand alone posture as well as a transition between other postures. We can note its place in the sequence of a vinyasa: plank to Chaturanga, to upward facing dog, to downward facing dog.
Phalakasana can have symbolic, metaphoric, and meaningful significance to our own personal why’s. When we consider the Sanskrit translation we see: phala which = to bear fruit and to ripen. So how do we as humans ripen or bear fruit? How do we make ourselves available and ready to be and give all that we are? We must remove all that we are not. Consider all that we are not our “impurities.” So what is impure about me is my false belief that I am not intelligent and my incorrect assumption that all men are assholes because I dated one asshole and my belief that the core of me is “rotten” because I made some rotten choices in my past. All of this garbage needs to be burned and removed, so that my upper case I, can rise out of those ashes. This is done with tapas. Tapas is the 3rd Niyama (the Niyamas are the second limb of the yogic system and they consist of 5 responsibilities we have to cultivate for ourselves). Tapas can be described as building internal heat or as discipline. When we challenge ourselves, whether it be in our thoughts and beliefs or in our plank pose, we burn away the dysfunction and build our muscle of discernment.
How to do Phalakasana:
There are various different entry points to plank pose, however, for this explanation, we will enter from an all fours, table top position. Place your hands underneath your shoulders or slightly wider than your shoulders and keep a micro bend in your elbows. Spread your fingers wide and grip through your finger pads. Find a neutral spine, you could go through a few cat/cows to experience the edges in both directions of flexion and extension, and then find your neutral. Engage by lifting the naval towards the spine then extend one leg back and long and ground your toes, then the other. Start with the feet separated about hip widths distance and you could try various widths and see how it changes the experience of the posture. Keep the back of your neck long and the crown of the head extended forward, nose down, and gaze slightly forward.
Modifications:
Bring your knees down to the mat.
For discomfort in the wrists, try making fists with the hands.
Variations:
Come onto your forearms for forearm plank (everything else remains the same), you can also bring your knees down to modify.
The variations are endless, be creative, simply stay mindful (plank on the tops of the feet, forearm plank to traditional plank flow, alternate tapping one hand to the chest, lift an are and the opposite leg, and so on.
***Permission to modify in anyway that provides you with a feeling of safety, ease, and is alignment with your purpose in practicing the posture.
Thank you dear Reader,
As always I am thrilled to link arms with those who are interested in understanding the depths of all that is yoga. Keep your mind and heart open and insist to persist.
Blessings,
Andrea Dawn
