A long lost functional ability
Easwari ammal is 58 years old, a street vendor who still makes use of a traditional 7 kg charcoal iron box to press clothes throughout the day but surprisingly displayed an active rest position that was predominant in the eastern part of the globe a century back, known as Malasana now fashionably called ‘Deep Squats’. The reason it’s framed as an active rest position is due to the human’s inherent ability to stay put in deep squats for many hours at a stretch. The gymnasiums have recently tagged it as an isometric exercise but sadly the modern man will proudly declare an accomplishment in an instagram post on having performed only a few minutes on the said position, glaringly oblivious to his loss. In contrast, savasana which involves lying comfortably on the back, is a passive rest position that does not engage any muscles wherein malasana keeps the quads, hamstring and calf muscle in a state of tension. The modern man seems to have retained the subsequent core abilit...