Siddhasana Benefits and Steps to do Accomplished Pose

It is a known fact that most people in the world want to achieve more in life. For that, it is important to stay on the course and most importantly, have a clearer sense of your place in the society and the world at large. But quite often, it is hard to tick all the boxes required for accomplishing what one wants to achieve.

Thankfully, there is a Yoga asana that one can do to do the needful. Perhaps quite fittingly, this pose is known as the Siddhasana, or the Accomplished pose let's dive into the depths of this yoga pose, exploring the benefits of Siddhasana, unraveling a step-by-step guide on how to perform the Accomplished Pose, delving into the anatomy of Siddhasana and finally, addressing common questions and doubts that may arise about Siddhasana.

What is Siddhasana?

Siddhasana, or the Accomplished pose, is basically a Yoga posture that also is a meditative pose. This asana essentially requires you to keep your upper body straight, shoulders relaxed, spine erect and your legs folded to the extent they can be folded. This asana also goes by the name of Adept’s pose in certain regions of the world.

The first descriptions of this pose were found in the 10th century Yoga text of “Gorakha Sataka”, and around that time, it was known as the pose that can open the doors to freedom and success in one’s life. It was later also known as the ‘king of all yoga poses' since it activates around 72000 nodes of energy in the body, through which it is believed that the essential life force found in every sentient human being passes through. These are, however, only one of the benefits of the Siddhasana. More will be explored in the subsection that follows.

What Are The Benefits Of Siddhasana?

Siddhasana Can Help You Combat Psoriasis: Psoriasis is a condition that is caused by the inflammation of the various parts of the body. This condition primarily attacks the lower back, elbows, knees and in some cases, the flip side of the patient’s palm and their scalp. This inflammation leads to the emergence of white-ish patches of skin in the areas where the patient feels the greatest amount of discomfort. This inflammation is typically a direct result of all the stress and anxiety that the patient has taken on, leading to an imbalance of hormones within their bodies. Siddhasana can rescue the affected individual from such a scenario by attempting to correct the said imbalance, which reduces the risk of any such kind of distress. However, you should not solely rely on Yoga asanas to treat Psoriasis and must consult a dermatologist as well.

Siddhasana Can Work Wonders For Your Hip Joint: The Siddhasana not only causes your hips to stretch, it also subjects the tendons and ligaments around it to a moderate degree of pressure. The stretching in question causes micro-tears in the said area, which would only make them stronger provided your diet is rich in protein, healthy carbohydrates and fibers.

Siddhasana Can Help You Achieve More In Life: When in Siddhasana, you will feel a tingling sensation across the length of your spine and gut, which is a sign of your consciousness moving towards the more positive cosmic forces and away from the negative ones. The end result of this experience is the ability to perform your daily tasks with more precision and accuracy, provided this pose is done regularly.

Siddhasana Will Help You Be Comfortable In Your Place In The World: At some point in our lives, we are bound to ask ourselves the existential crisis-inducing question “What is my place in the society and the world at large?” question. Pondering over the same may cause severe anxiety and in some extreme cases, a lack of sense of self. This is one of those kinds of struggles that the Siddhasana can help you keep at bay as it activates the Muladhara Chakra, which is more popularly known as the Root Chakra in the West. This particular passageway of energy resides around the base of the spine, and once it is activated, it can create a sense of calm and belonging, thereby reducing the risk of anxiety-filled episodes due to that.

Siddhasana Can Help You Stay On The Path To Success: It is no secret that life can prove to be really exhausting for the people who live very-fast paced lives. Additionally, there is a good chance that one may lose their sense of purpose or may divert their eyes from the metaphorical prize. Not to mention that an exhausting life, due to its several variables, may also open the doorways for negative thoughts to enter the mind as human beings tend to become more cynical with experience. These events can prove to be roadblocks in one’s life. However, if one manages to practice the Siddhasana regularly, he/she may be able to overcome those obstacles with relative ease since it activates the Muladhara Chakra, which is more commonly known as the “Third Eye” Chakras. The activation of the same heightens one’s sense of perception, helps the individual gain clarity in terms of their purpose and be more focused on the task in their hands.

How To Do Siddhasana

It is easy to execute the Siddhasana. However, it is not a position without its several moving parts. Therefore you will require a step-by-step guide to perform the Accomplished pose perfectly. You will find the same below:

Siddhasana Step 1: Sit down in Dandasana against the length of the mat.

Siddhasana Step 2: Bend your right leg up until you manage to bring its heel to your groin area.

Siddhasana Step 3: Do the same with your left leg, but bend it until you bring its heel in line with that of your right leg. If you are flexible enough, try bringing your left foot higher up to the calf of your right leg.

Siddhasana Step 4: Extend your spine by raising the crown of your head as high as you can without straining your neck in any way.

Siddhasana Step 5: let your shoulders and arms relax in such a way that it allows for your palms to rest comfortably on the knee of the leg corresponding to it. You can either grab your knees with your palms, let them be open and face upward, or, ensure that they face upwards while making sure that your thumb touches your index finger. The choice is entirely yours.

Siddhasana Step 6: Open your hips a little further if you can so that your crossed legs are sitting parallel to the ground.

Siddhasana Step 7: Stay in this position and breathe normally for the amount of time that is recommended by your Yoga instructor. Most Yogis tend to stay in this position for anywhere between 5-10 minutes to make the most of it.

Siddhasana Step 7: Repeat the aforementioned steps by switching your legs to complete one repetition of this Yoga asana.

When To Practise Siddhasana

The Siddhasana can be performed during any time of the day, provided your stomach and your bladder have been empty for anywhere between 4-6 hours. Ideally, it should be done in the morning and before your breakfast as the stomach and bladder are usually quite empty around that time. Given that Siddhasana does not require a great degree of physical strength, flexibility and sense of body balance, it can be performed either in isolation or as a part of a Yoga routine.

Siddhasana contraindications

There are certain circumstances under which you should either completely avoid doing the Siddhasana or at least get the approval of the relevant medical professional before jumping into it. They are as follows:

• If you have injured your knees, hips and ankles and/or have had any of the mentioned body parts operated on, you should definitely avoid Siddhasana. However, if it has been months since the day on which you sustained the injury and have been through multiple physiotherapy sessions, you can perhaps consult your orthopaedic surgeon before taking a call.

• If you are at any stage of pregnancy, strictly avoid the Siddhasana as it will put a great deal of pressure on your lower abdomen area, which is something that you do not want during your term. You should especially avoid doing this asana during the last trimester of your pregnancy.

• Avoid the Siddhasana at all costs if you suffer from Sciatica.

• You must most certainly stay away from Siddhasana if you have blood pressure issues.

Anatomy of Siddhasana

An anatomical exploration of the Siddhasana is as follows:

When in Dandasana, the lower half of your body is rather relaxed, however, the main engagement that is happening at this point in time is in your spine, which is keeping your upper body straight and erect.

When you begin to transition into the Siddhasana, you will begin to apply pressure to your right leg. At first, you will feel your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps stretch in your right leg as you try to bring the heel of your foot to your groin. Once you have managed to do so, you will begin to feel the contraction of your hamstrings, glutes and adductors while the quadriceps and the muscles around it will be tested to their extremities in terms of stretching. You can expect the exact same sensations passing through each and every part of your left leg when you perform Step 3.

Finally, when you have achieved the final position, you will feel a certain degree of pressure in your hip area. If it is too much to bear, we would recommend that you exit the pose immediately. Your abdominal area will also begin to receive a massage at this point in time.

Finally, you are to relax your shoulders and extend your spine by raising your head upwards. As one can imagine, these actions will impact two different parts of your body. Since you are letting your shoulders loose, you are opening the doorway for more blood to flow in that area. As far as your spine is concerned, you will end up opening it, which will allow for positive energy to flow through it rather freely. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Siddhasana

Why Is It Called Siddhasana

Siddhasana is Sanskrit for “Accomplished Pose” and can be broken down in two parts; Siddha, which means accomplished/accomplishment or Asana, which means pose. The pose is named as such as it is believed that regularly practicing Siddhasana can help an individual accomplish success and a sense of clarity with regards to matters of life.

What are the techniques of Siddhasana?

Some of the alternative techniques of the Siddhasana are:

The Lotus Pose: This is a more extreme version of the Siddhasana as it sees the knees of the student being bent to their perceivable extremities, which puts a greater amount of pressure on the muscles found in the legs and the abdomen.

Seated Mountain Pose: The seated version of the Mountain pose, which is commonly known as the Tadasana, is a variation of the Siddhasana that sees the student raising their hands up in the air and joining their palms together in a “Namaste” formation. This version of the Siddhasana engages more muscles in the students’ upper body and helps them form a deeper connection with the higher vibrations.

Baddha Konasana: This version of the Siddhasana sees the individual fold their hands in the Yoni mudra, which is entered into by making sure that the middle finger, index finger and the thumb of each palm touches those of the other. This yoga asana is performed with the intention of connecting to higher vibrations as well.

Siddhasana With Hands Behind Your Head: This is your standard Siddhasana with the only difference of the fingers of the two hands being interlocked behind the student’s skull. This variant is done to engage more of the upper body than one would otherwise have while doing the standard Siddhasana.

Vajrasana: This Siddhasana variant sees the hells of the students’ legs being pulled closer to the genital area to cause more of a stretch in the legs. This version is primarily performed by Yogis who are at an intermediate level or above.

How Can One Get Better At Siddhasana?

One can get better at Siddhasana by practising the same regularly and/or trying out more challenging variations of the same if the student feels that he/she has arrived on a plateau of some sort. If you would like to revise the basics of performing the Siddhasana, you can always revisit the step-by-step guide for the same which can be found above.