-
|
- Step 1:
- Start on your hands and knees in a "tabletop" position. Make sure your knees are set directly below your hips and your wrists, elbows and shoulders are in line and perpendicular to the floor. Center your head in a neutral position, eyes looking at the floor.
- Step 2:
- As you inhale, lift your sitting bones and chest toward the ceiling, allowing your belly to sink toward the floor. Lift your head to look straight forward.
- Step 3:
- Exhale, coming back to neutral "tabletop" position on your hands and knees. Repeat 10 to 20 times.
- Step 4:
- This pose is often paired with Cat Pose on the exhale for a gentle, flowing vinyasa.
|
- Beginner's Tip:
- Protect your neck by broadening across your shoulder blades and drawing your shoulders down, away from your ears.
- Deepen the pose:
- You can increase the challenge in this pose by slightly varying the position of the arms and hands. First, exhale and swing your right arm around behind your back as you twist to the right. If you can, grip the left arm just at the elbow with the right hand; if you can't, hold a strap looped around the left elbow. Then turn your left arm outward (so the palm faces away from the knees) and slip the hand under the right knee, palm on the floor.
- Partnering:
- A partner can help you learn to ground the opposite-side buttock. If you are twisting to the right, have your partner stand to your left side and place his/her left foot on the very top of your left thigh, with the inner edge of the foot in the groin. Apply gentle pressure at first, then increase the pressure as seems appropriate. Exhale into your twist but keep the top left thigh releasing away from your partner's foot.
- Info
- One of seven legendary seers, credited with composing the hymns collected in the Vedas.
- Benefits:
- Stretches the spine, shoulders, and hips.
- Massages the abdominal organs.
- Relieves lower backache, neck pain, and sciatica.
- Helps relieve stress.
- Improves digestion.
- Especially good in the second trimester of pregnancy for strengthening the lower back.
- Therapeutic for carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Therapeutic Applications:
- Contraindications and Cautions:
- With a neck injury, keep the head in line with the torso.
|
