Open your heart with Ustrasana

September - Pose of the Month

As September begins, we prepare ourselves for the upcoming seasonal changes, first to Fall and then Winter. Ustrasana cultivates the patience we need to cope with these changes. It also allows us to tap into large resources of energy that we can tap into, like a camel taps into its large reserves of water when they are low.

Benefits of the pose include but are not limited to:

Alleviates constipation.
Relieves backache, rounded back and drooping shoulder.
Fully stretches the front of the body.
Regulates the thyroid gland.

How to -

1. Kneel on the floor with your knees hip width and thighs perpendicular to the floor.

2. Place your hands on your lower back, fingers pointing down. Use your hands to spread the back and lengthen down through your tail bone.

3. Inhale and lift your heart.

4. Lean back, keeping head in line with spine. *Beginners probably won't be able to drop straight back into this pose. Stay with hands on lower back, experiencing the heart opening.

5. Begin to move hands down backs of thighs towards ankles, left hand to left ankle, right hand to right ankle.

6. Stay in this pose anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute, maintaining a relaxed breath.