Knees>Chest>Chin is not an alternative for Chaturanga.
Discussing the harm that can come from misaligned alternatives, and how to be intentional with your Vinyasa offerings.
Ever been in a yoga class where the yoga teacher has cued something along the lines of: "...take Chaturanga to Updog OR Knees-Chest-Chin to Cobra…" as the options for Vinyasa?
This is probably my least favourite cue to hear in a yoga class, for so many reasons but mainly because Knees>Chest>Chin is NOT a mini version or “beginner version” of Chaturanga.
In fact, it’s a different pose entirely.
Cueing these postures as alternatives of one another not only gives the impression that they offer the same benefits (which they don’t), but it also conflates their general alignment which poses significant safety concerns.
So why, (WHYYYYYY) are Vinyasa options so often cued this way in yoga classes?? And, are there more appropriate offerings out there that we can cue instead?
One is a Backbend, the Other is a Tricep Push-Up
While there is a kneeling variation of Chaturanga (pictured below on the right), Knees-Chest-Chin is not it.
Knees-Chest-Chin actually has it’s own name: Ashtangasana. If you look closely at the diagram below, you’ll see that it also has very distinct characteristics that distinguish it from Chaturanga.
Ashtangasana, otherwise known as Eight-Limbed-Staff pose, is a backbend. It’s actually kind of like a kneeling variation of chin-stand, if you think about it.
In Ashtangasana, our elbows are almost fully flexed, our tailbone is the tallest point of the pose, while our chin, chest and shoulders are dipped toward the ground (our chest and chin are perhaps even touching/resting on the mat).
In contrast, Chaturanga Dandasana or Four-Limbed-Staff pose is basically a tricep push-up1. So that means our elbows are bent no further than 90 degrees, our chest, and most importantly our shoulders, are elevated away from the floor. We also aim to hold our body—from our head to our tailbone (or toes in the variation with knees lifted away from the mat)—in one straight line.
Just by examining the general alignment of these very different poses, it becomes easier to understand how they each also engage different areas of the body.
Muscular Activations
Whenever I’m teaching a yoga teacher training and a student asks why Ashtangasana is an unsuitable alternative to Chaturanga, I always encourage them to try it in their own body because feeling it is often the key to understanding how different these movements really are from one another.
Ashtangasana
Most of the sensation in this posture is felt in the upper back.
Strengthens biceps, muscles of the upper back, glutes and thighs
Requires a high level thoracic mobility for spinal extension (backbend)
Chaturanga
Most of the sensation in this posture is felt in the chest and arms.
Strengthens: triceps, pectoral muscles, muscles of the core, thighs
Requires core and upper body strength
Good Intentions
Most yoga teachers teach from a good place. They aim to serve their community and they want their students to be able to enjoy a safe and fulfilling yoga practice.
Chaturanga is a physically demanding (often inaccessible) posture, especially for newcomers to the practice. Knowing this, Ashtangasana is usually offered as a more accessible alternative, or a “building block” for Chaturanga. Typically, the assumption is that Ashtangasana is not quite as physically demanding, but still offers the “feeling” of a Vinyasa while helping cultivate the strength necessary to eventually practice Chaturanga.
While I definitely appreciate any teacher who thinks to offer more than one option for poses that are on the trickier side, the reality is: Ashtangasana won’t go far in helping practitioners understand the mechanics of Chaturanga or build the necessary strength to practice it because it works completely different muscles and motions.
If anything, there’s a higher likelihood that students will confuse these two distinct shapes and, as a result, practice them with improper form.
Injury Prevention
While no one has ever died from doing a Chaturanga with poor form, practicing long-term with improper alignment can be injurious2.
One of the biggest hazards of conflating Ashtangasana with Chaturanga is encouraging misalignment or poor form in Chaturanga (ex: back-bending and dipping the shoulders below the elbows).
While the shoulders do dip toward the ground in Ashtangasana, one of the most critical aspects of Chaturanga’s alignment is maintaining the shoulders in line with or above (I usually teach slightly above for beginners) the elbow joint. This is to protect and maintain the integrity of the the shoulder joint which is a fairly vulnerable joint area in the body3. Unlike Ashtangasana, Chaturanga is a weight-bearing posture. Avoiding collapsing the shoulders below the elbow joint helps to prevent the shoulders from being overloaded which can cause damage over time.
Likewise, spinal extension (back-bending) is a key aspect of Ashtangasana but overarching the spine, or a general lack of core engagement in Chaturanga can contribute to low back pain and/or strain.
Understanding and respecting the nuances of each of these yoga postures is essential for preventing injuries and strains during practice.
Lastly, if you, like me, sequence your yoga classes toward a peak posture, you will want to ensure that everyone in your class is getting adequate preparation to move safely through the sequence. That means ensuring that the options that you’re offering are always intentional and align with your class program. Basically: you want to find the closest postural alternative, not just any random alternative so that everyone, regardless of the options they choose, will receive the same preparation.
Borrow My Cues
This is (verbatim) how I usually cue different options for Chaturanga in a multilevel group environment:
On the first round of Vinyasa, I will introduce the “knees grounded” variation of Chaturanga and I will cue it so that the entire class moves through that option together. I usually cue it something like this:
“(from plank) lower your knees to the mat. Shift your shoulders forward beyond your wrists. Hug your belly button in toward your spine and maintain this core engagement as you bend your elbows alongside your ribs lowering your torso halfway to the mat. Pause there in your Chaturanga Dandasana. Now, pull your chest through the gate of your arms allowing your forward momentum to lift your knees away from the mat coming into your Upward Facing Dog. Replace your knees on the mat, draw your belly button back towards your spine reengaging your core. Lift your hips up and back to your first Downward Facing Dog. This sequence that we just moved through will be our Vinyasa sequence for today. If at any point during class the Vinyasa is not feeling aligned with your practice, please feel free to skip it when I cue it and instead head straight back to Downward Facing Dog.”
The second round of Vinyasa is where I will offer the option for Chaturanga with knees lifted. Students who are familiar with Chaturanga will know exactly what I mean when I cue the option “from the toes”. I usually cue that like this:
“Coming into our second Vinyasa of the practice: from your knees or your toes, find your Chaturanga Dandasana, pull your heart forward to your Upward Facing Dog, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, engaging your core, lift your hips up and back to Downward Facing Dog, Ardho Mukha Svanasana.”
On every round thereafter:
“Option here to take a Vinyasa or make your way back to Downward Facing Dog.”
**Note: My cues intentionally become more minimal as the class moves along in order to allow more space for silence where students can observe their own internal experience without a constant stream of instruction (and also to avoid sounding like a broken record lol).
Last Notes on Vinyasas
When it comes to offering a Vinyasa sequence in a yoga class, I have a few rules:
Use the same Vinyasa as your Sun Salutation - If your Sun Salutation uses Chaturanga>Updog (ex: Surya Namaskar A) stick with that for the entire class. Using multiple types of Vinyasas in one class will not only feel erratic and confusing for your students, but it will also be a shit-ton more work for you to cue as a teacher.
Choose your Vinyasa intentionally - I like to select a Vinyasa that supports the overall aims of my class. For example, if my peak pose is going to be Chinstand, I will likely use Ashtangasana>Cobra as my Vinyasa.
Come prepared with the CLOSEST alternative - If I am going to offer an alternative to one (or more) of the poses in my Vinyasa sequence, I make sure that I find the closest alternative not just like any other random pose. Usually this means offering an option for a prop, or in the case of Chaturanga, offering the kneeling variation.
Offer an opt-out - I always offer my students the option to opt-out of the Vinyasa every time I teach. This gives a little bit of reassuring permission to anyone who wants an extra breather throughout the class or isn’t feeling up for the Vinyasa that day, that it is okay to sit that portion of class, out.
Feel free to make something up - Sometimes the traditional Vinyasas just don’t *hit* especially if I’m planning a hands-free class. In cases like this, I’ll create a sequence of movements that feels aligned with the flow. Recently I taught a hands-free class that used Childs Pose>Sphinx>Vajrasana as my Vinyasa.
Gentler Options for Pregnancy - Due to the presence of Relaxin and the vulnerability of the connective tissues during pregnancy, I will usually offer pregnant students “cat/cow” as a Vinyasa as it reduces the amount of stress on their wrist/shoulders joints. More adaptations for pregnancy in this course.
Looking for More Yoga Sequencing Tips?
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Tricep push up “how-to”: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tricep-push-up-guide
I always get iffy whenever I use the word “alignment” because I feel like it’s such an overused term in the yoga world that so often implies that there is one specific “shape” that we all must conform to. When I say “alignment” here, what I am referring to is the general postural placement and muscular engagement necessary to practice a pose safely.