Learn to Soar with Garudasana

April Pose of the Month- Eagle Pose (Garudasana)

By Rebecca Merritt

Melt into spring with Garudasana. Eagle pose is a great one for helping relieve stress in the body while getting a bit of a work out at the same time. Spring weather is finally coming and we are all rushing around preparing for it. You may not feel like you have time to surrender in a total restorative pose, so check out Garudasana. Eagle is great because it opens the shoulders and stretches the neck – giving you a bit of relief while you work your core and legs. It is also a pose that requires you to really focus on balancing your body. As the change of season revs up our schedules, return to Eagle time and again to help you focus and balance it all.





Benefits:

• Improves focus & balance

• Improves digestion

• Relieves low back pain & sciatica

• Good for asthma

• Opens shoulders and upper back

• Opens hips

• Stretches thighs and IT band

• Increases circulation to joints


How to:

1. Stand in Tadasana. Draw the left foot upward bending the knee and wrap the left foot around your right leg. Point your left toes toward the floor and then hook the top of the foot behind the lower right calf, balancing on the right foot.

2. Stretch your arms out to the side. Cross your arms in front of you at the elbows, left under your right. Bend your elbows and raise the forearms perpendicular to the floor. The backs of the hands should be facing each other – hold here or cross wrists bringing the palms to touch.

3. Lift your elbows up and stretch the fingers toward the ceiling as you sit low.


4. Stay for 15 to 30 seconds, unwind the legs and arms, and stand in Tadasana. Repeat on the other side with the arms and legs reversed.