doweli
It looks innocent enough. 1.25" in diameter and 24" long, the hardwood dowel has become a staple in personal practice and in the classroom.
Next to the yoga block and a good strap, the wood dowel just might be one of the best props since the sticky mat. It began when I learned about how the dowel can be placed behind the knees
while sitting in supported virasana to palpate the back line of the leg and create space behind the knees. I loved it so much I made a dowel for my home practice, and at the time I was deep into
studying the shoulders. Suddenly there were more and more ways popping up to use the dowel to bring symmetry, extension, and deeper rotation to the shoulders.
Eventually, new techniques began seeping into classes, to the point that students were doing many things with the dowel, from simple supta samasthitihi to using it in sarvangasana. We've even done standing poses using the dowel, namely virabhadrasana one and parsvottanasana. Somewhere along the line someone in a class jokingly (and I hope lovingly) called me the "Doweli Lama".
for the
Using a dowel in salamba setu bandha sarvangasana gives tactile feedback for the arm and shoulder girdle.
Here the dowel is used to give full rotation in the rotator cuffs, full supination in the forearms, and symmetry in the wrists.
Using a dowel can give the practitioner a sense of ground with the hands in poses where the hands usually float in space, while also revealing any tendency for one shoulder to rotate or ride
forward more than the other.
The dowel is gripped with the hands gently while in specific poses, and depending on the grip, the practitioner can more easily feel the position of the wrist, elbow and upper arm. The shoulder blades can be more efficiently positioned within rotation and extension. Just as the floor is our prop for the hands and feet in adho mukha svanasana, the dowel offers similar sensory awareness in poses where the floor is unavailable. Good examples are supta dandasana, supta virasana, and salamba setu bandha sarvangasana.
for the
Using a dowel behind the knees in virasana deeply palpates the backs of the knees and legs. It is intense, but incredibly valuable.
The extension of the hamstrings reaching down into the lower leg from above, and the reciprocal lacing into the upper leg of the two halves of the calf muscles from below, makes for a sticky situation
behind the knees. The backs of the legs are complex, and when coupled with tight anterior and lateral lines (front, inner, and outer lines of the legs), the knee joints can become tight, and the leg
cannot bend or straighten fully. Walking and sitting become restricted, and our capacity for doing forward bending or backbending postures is reduced. The knee cannot breathe, the upper and lower leg
bones become too close, often contributing to a variety of discomfort and pain in the feet, knees, hips, and lower back. Using the dowel behind the knees in virasana (don't try this
without proper supervision), helps to soften some of the tension held in the knees, and frees up the legs below and the spine above.