The Shala Daily

YOGA • PHILOSOPHY • LIFE

May 28, 2026
🪞

The 90/90 Mirror

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🕉️ KEY CONCEPTS

svādhyāya
Self-study. Pay attention to what the body says when you ask it a clear question.
satya
Truthfulness. The asymmetry the position reveals is data, not character flaw.
dvandva
Pairs of opposites. The two hips, asked to do opposite work simultaneously, train the practitioner to hold both at once.
viveka
Discrimination. Train the corner that fails. Trust that the dominant side will keep up.

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Sit on the floor. Right leg in front, knee bent, outside of the leg on the floor. Left leg behind, knee bent, inside of the leg on the floor. Hands off. Try to sit upright without leaning. The position is called 90/90, and it asks both hips to do opposite work simultaneously — front leg in flexion + external rotation + adduction, back leg in flexion + internal rotation + abduction.

Both sides are honest. The side that fails is your training priority.

🪞 Two Hips, Two States

90/90 is a mirror because most students cannot pretend in it. Flop forward and the front hip looks fine; the back hip is gone. Compensate by tucking the pelvis and the back hip looks fine; the front hip lost its rotation. The position refuses ambiguity. The full hip Tech Support uses 90/90 as both an assessment and a training drill, with PAILs/RAILs cycles for each leg before switching sides.

📜 Asymmetry as Information

The Sūtras describe the practitioner’s work as svādhyāya — self-study. Most translations make this sound like reading scripture. A more useful reading: pay attention to what the body says when you ask it a clear question. 90/90 asks a clear question. The asymmetry the answer reveals is data, not character flaw. Train the corner that fails. Trust the dominant side to keep up.

— MJH

"Both hips are working simultaneously, in opposite rotational states. The one that fails is your training priority."

— MJH, Tech Support: When Adduction Meets Rotation

90/90 asks both hips to do opposite work simultaneously. The position refuses ambiguity. The side that fails is your training priority.

— MJH
Original Article: "Tech Support: When Adduction Meets Rotation" by Michael Joel Hall, ashtanga.tech

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