The ten bilateral standing poses are the ten standing poses that are done to both left and right.
trikoṇāsana
parivṛtta trikoṇāsana
pārśvakoṇāsana
parivṛtta pārśvakoṇāsana
vīrabhadrāsana II
vīrabhadrāsana I
vīrabhadrāsana III
ardha candrāsana
parivṛtta ardhacandrāsana
pārśvottānāsana
Notes on these poses:
Photos from BKS.Iyengar – Light On Yoga 1964.
Foot alignment is: the arch of the back foot lines up with the big toe of the front foot.
There are only two actions for the upper thighs. They both rotate outward’s for trikoṇāsana type poses or they both rotate inwards for pārśvottānāsana type poses.
Neck should never be tense. Looking upward is ideal but only if it can be done with ease. Eyes should be relaxed. Keep your eyes steady on a point of reference. This will help with balance.
These dynamic poses can be done in a flow and you can make up sequences as you please. Or they can be done for long periods. In advanced classes we held each pose for 2 minutes to each side. This gives you long enough to truly settle into the pose.
The rotated half moon pose was not in “Light On Yoga”. He added it much later. I have used the picture from “Yoga The Iyengar Way” by Mira Mehta 1990.
These standing poses are not mentioned in any of the old yoga texts and it is thought that they were named by Krishnamacharya (Mr Iyengar’s teacher).
There are very few pictures of Krishnamacharya in standing poses. Here’s what I have found (dated 1934). Note how the foot positions are not what we now suggest!
I have very few picture of myself in standing poses but here’s 3 from the 1990’s
Trivia: India released a postage stamp featuring trikoṇāsana in 1991
