15/08/2026
WHY THE RIGHT SIDE FIRST?
In many bilateral standing poses—
Trikoṇāsana.
Utthita Pārśvakoṇāsana.
Vīrabhadrāsana I and II.
Parivṛtta Trikoṇāsana.
—the right side is commonly taught first.
A new student once asked:
“Is it simply tradition, or is there a reason?”
The most honest answer may be: both tradition and method.
Beginning consistently on one side brings order to the practice. It allows the teacher to guide a group clearly and gives the student a familiar sequence through which both sides can be observed.
Does the second side feel steadier?
Does the breath change?
Does the body understand the action more clearly after learning it once?
Traditional yoga also associates the right side with Piṅgalā—the solar channel, symbolically connected with warmth, activity and dynamism.
The left is associated with Iḍā—the lunar channel, connected with coolness, receptivity and stillness.
These belong to the yogic understanding of the subtle body. They are not anatomical explanations.
Perhaps the value of beginning on the right does not lie in one final theory.
Perhaps it lies in what repetition teaches:
The same side first.
The same actions revisited.
A different body each day.
Next time you enter Trikoṇāsana, observe what the first side teaches the second.
💬 What instruction from your teacher only became clear through years of practice?
We read every response.
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