Trikonasana

1. Spend 20-30 seconds in Tadasana, seeking the calm of the mountain pose.

2. Inhaling, spring the legs to 3 1⁄2 feet apart.

3. Turn the right foot out 90 degrees, and the left foot inward 30 degrees, stretching the arms horizontally as far apart as they will go. Palms down, hands concave upward.

4. Puff out the chest, draw in the abdomen and exhale and descend toward the right calf, retaining the alignment of the arms, and keeping the torso in the plane defined by the intersection of the two legs.

5. After the right hand reaches the floor, press backward on it to rotate the torso so that a line through the two arms would pass through the center of the earth. Steady the left foot in place as you rotate the left knee outward and curl the left buttock back, so that the lower and upper tor- so are also brought back, in line with the same plane.

6. The action of the arms and legs will separate the torso away from the root of the right thigh, and raise the left thigh higher, widening the right groin and lengthening the left groin. Breathe calmly and evenly, filling the right and left lungs equally, for 1 minute. Then reverse this for the left side.