SIDE-RECLINING LEG LIFT POSE

 

SIDE-RECLINING LEG LIFT POS  

HOW TO PRACTICE THIS ASANA

ONE

First rest your body on a flat surface with your right side on the ground.

Now push through the right heels, contract the muscle of the ankle, and maintain the position with your foot. (Or stabilize your feet against the wall to keep your body in position.)

TWO

Extend your right arm straight to the side of your torso.

This must seem like you are creating a long line from the finger tips to the heels.

Put your hands on the back of the head for support and notice how the elbow folds. Move the elbow from the torso, stretching the armpit in the process.

THREE

Now move your legs repeatedly to position your toes to face the ceiling. Then, move your body to draw your toe towards the torso.

Extend your hands and hold the toe with your left middle leg and index finger. Hold it firm by supporting the two fingers with the thumb.

For those who couldn’t hold the toe firmly, tie a strap around the toe and hold onto it. Now breathe in, and stretch your legs towards the ceiling.

FOUR

Notice as the body moves backward and the leg you lift up will tilt slightly to the front. This is the likely situation.

Position the sacrum over the pelvis to make things easy. You need to move your leg backward to make it perpendicular.

Push through both heels and stay in the pose for about 1 – 30 seconds. To repeat the process, stop, relax for a short time, switch to the left side of your body, and repeat the whole process.

BENEFITS OF SIDE-RECLINING LEG LIFT POSE

• Stretches the hips and the groin
• Opens through hamstrings
• Tones abdominal muscles
• Promotes better circulation in legs and glutes
• Improves balance
• Relieves arthritis and sciatica symptoms

• SUMMARY OF SIDE-RECLINING LEG LIFT POSE

  This pose has many names: Sleeping Vishnu’s Pose, Vishnu’s Couch Pose, Eternal One’s Pose and Side-Reclining Leg Lift. The Sanskrit name comes from the term “Ananta,” which refers to infinity, eternity, something without end or without limit. The Side-Reclining Leg Lift is actually a Hand-to-Toe modification of the Sleeping Vishnu’s Pose (Utthita Hasta Padangustasana in Anantasana).

• POSE CAUTIONS

  All students with health issues should take cautions when doing the exercise.

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yoga backbends

The benefits of backbends in yoga

Backbending opens our heart chakra and the postures work to build our courage and stamina, and give us a burst of energy.

They’re also said to:

• Lower stress and anxiety
• Improve posture + spine flexibility and mobility
• Stretch out abdominal muscles
• Increase oxygen levels + open the body to diaphragmatic breathing
• Help alleviate back + neck pain

Tips for safe yoga backbends

• Root down through your hands, feet, legs, or hips for a strong foundation.
• Draw the limbs toward the midline for a strong core.
• Engage Uddiyana Bandha (belly lock) by pulling the navel in and up.
• Reach your tailbone away from your head.
• Relax the shoulders down your back.
• Keep the neck long.
• Work on creating an even arch over the entire spine.

 How to backbend safely

While there are tons of benefits to backbending asanas, when they’re not practised carefully, they can lead to pain or injury, or a tendency to miss them in class – which is especially remiss to your yoga practice if you’re seated in front of a computer all day.

Warm up

It may sound obvious but we can’t expect to move into the full expression of wheel or Urdhva Dhanurasana – or even upward facing dog – without first stretching out the abdomen, hips and chest.

Begin a backbending sequence with gentle openings such as moving from Child’s Pose or Balasana to tabletop position and then Cat // Cow before a few rounds of Sun Salutations with slow graduating cobras.

Holding Spinx Pose for a few deep breaths, taking Bridge Pose – supported if needed – and Locust will help prep for deeper backbends, strengthening the back of the torso, legs, and arms.

 

STANDING BACKBEND

Instructions

1. From Mountain pose, place the palms on the low back/sacrum with the fingers pointed down. Press into the feet, pull up the knee caps, and squeeze the thighs and buttocks.

2. Press the hips forward and begin to arch the torso backwards. Keep the head looking forward, or if it feels safe let it drop all the way back. Use the arms to support your weight and keep the legs and buttocks engaged and strong.

3. Breathe and hold 3-7 breaths.

4. To release: keep the legs, buttocks and arms strong as you slowly inhale back up, letting the head and neck be the last to come vertical.

Benefits + Contraindications

Benefits: Standing Backbend opens the front of the body, and strengthens the respiratory, cardiovascular and endocrine systems.

Contraindications: Recent or chronic injury to the hips, back or neck.

Modifications + Variations

Variations: A) Walk the hands down the backs of the thighs to the backs of the knees. B) Inhale the arms over the head with the fingers interlaces and the index fingers pointing up. C) Place the palms together in front of the heart in Anjali Mudra.

Tree Pose

 

8 Steps to Master and Refine Tree Pose

Benefit
Establishes strength and balance in the legs, and helps you feel centered, steady, and grounded.

Instructions
1. Stand with your feet together, inner ankles and inner knees touching. Find a straight line of energy through the center of the body, from the inner arches up through the crown of the head. Bring the hands together at the center of the chest in Anjali Mudra. Exhale, root down through your feet, and feel steadiness, firmness, and grounding in Tadasana, or Mountain Pose.

2. Shift your weight onto your right foot. Bend your left knee, and move it toward the chest. Keeping a long spine, reach down and clasp your left ankle. Place the sole of the left foot on the inner right thigh.

3. Lengthen your tailbone toward the floor to stand tall and bring your drishti, or gaze, to the wall directly in front of you to help you balance.

4. Press your left foot into the inner right thigh and your right thigh into your foot in an effort to maintain your midline.

5. Square both hips to the front of the room, keeping your left knee moving out to the left.

6. Firm your outer right thigh by contracting the quadriceps muscles, or the front of the thighs. Zip your belly in and your lower ribs together. Lift the chest and bring the shoulder blades down.

7. Take 5–10 deep breaths, finding length on each inhale and rooting down with each exhale.

8. Exhale and release the left leg back to Tadasana. Repeat on the other side.

See also Make It About the Midline: Tree Pose

Avoid These Mistakes

DON’T turn out the foot on the standing, supporting leg. This will misalign the supporting knee and hip

DON’T place your foot on the opposite knee. Keep it above or below the knee, on the inner thigh or side of the shin, to protect the knee of the standing leg.

 

Boat Pose

An ab and deep hip flexor strengthener, Paripurna Navasana requires you to balance on the tripod of your sitting bones and tailbone.

Step by Step

Step 1

Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Press your hands on the floor a little behind your hips, fingers pointing toward the feet, and strengthen the arms. Lift through the top of the sternum and lean back slightly. As you do this make sure your back doesn't round; continue to lengthen the front of your torso between the pubis and top sternum. Sit on the "tripod" of your two sitting bones and tailbone.

Step 2

Exhale and bend your knees, then lift your feet off the floor, so that the thighs are angled about 45-50 degrees relative to the floor. Lengthen your tailbone into the floor and lift your pubis toward your navel. If possible, slowly straighten your knees, raising the tips of your toes slightly above the level of your eyes. If this isn't possible remain with your knees bent, perhaps lifting the shins parallel to the floor.

Step 3

Stretch your arms alongside the legs, parallel to each other and the floor. Spread the shoulder blades across your back and reach strongly out through the fingers. If this isn't possible, keep the hands on the floor beside your hips or hold on to the backs of your thighs.

Step 4

While the lower belly should be firm, it shouldn't get hard and thick. Try to keep the lower belly relatively flat. Press the heads of the thigh bones toward the floor to help anchor the pose and lift the top sternum. Breathe easily. Tip the chin slightly toward the sternum so the base of the skull lifts lightly away from the back of the neck.

Step 5

At first stay in the pose for 10-20 seconds. Gradually increase the time of your stay to 1 minute. Release the legs with an exhalation and sit upright on an inhalation.

Pose Information

Sanskrit Name

Paripurna Navasana

Pose Level

1

Contraindications and Cautions

• Asthma
• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Heart Problems
• Insomnia
• Low blood pressure
• Menstruation
• Pregnancy
• Neck injury: Sit with your back near a wall to perform this pose. As you tilt your torso back rest the back of your head on the wall.

Modifications and Props

• Often it's difficult to straighten the raised legs. Bend your knees and loop a strap around the soles of your feet, gripping it firmly in your hands. Inhale, lean the torso back, then exhale and lift and straighten your legs, adjusting the strap to keep it taut. Push the feet firmly against the strap.

Benefits

• Strengthens the abdomen, hip flexors, and spine
• Stimulates the kidneys, thyroid and prostate glands, and intestines
• Helps relieve stress
• Improves digestion

Lord of the Dance Pose

 

Lord of the Dance Pose Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Begin in Tadasana, facing the front of the mat and noticing the symmetry of the pelvis and the torso
2. Root down through the big toe mounds while lifting the inner arches
3. Spin the inner thighs back while releasing the flesh of the buttocks down
4. Draw the sternum away from the navel while softening the front ribs
5. Bend the right knee and reach back with the right hand to clasp the ankle from the inside out, so that the finger tips point to the right and the shoulder is in external rotation
6. Pause and observe which of the elements from Tadasana have been lost
7. Typically, the weight has fallen to the outer left foot, the left outer hip has protruded, the front ribs have flared and the pelvis is no longer square to the front of the mat
8. To correct, root down with the left big toe mound, firm the left outer hip into the midline and roll the right side of the pelvis and ribs forward, directing the lower front ribs towards the frontal hipbones
9. Maintaining these actions, start to press the right thigh back and up, leading with the inner thigh so that the thigh remains neutral; press into the right big toe mound to reinforce this work
10. Simultaneously reach the left arm forward and up, leading with the inner upper arm and engaging the outer upper arm so that the shoulder is in external rotation
11. Keep extending the sternum away from the navel to maintain the lift of the chest while extending back and up with the right thigh
12. Pin the right knee into the midline to keep the leg neutral and press back with the right foot to open the front of the right shoulder, all the while continuing to roll the right ribs forward
13. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths then release back to Tadasana and take the other side

The Physical Benefits

In Dancer's Pose, you stretch your shoulders and chest, while stretching out your thighs, groin and abdomen. While simultaneously strengthening your legs and ankles, you'll improve your balance and concentration.

The Energetic Benefits

You'll also open your Sacral, Solar plexus, and Heart Chakras in this powerful posture, by finding balance in the realm of sensuality, personal power, and love and compassion.

Primary Benefits:

Spine Flexibility

Improve Posture

Opens The Chest

Improve Balance

Strengthens The Legs

 

Cobra Pose

How to Do Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) in Yoga

Cobra is most often done as part of a Sun Salutation. It's the alternative to Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana) in the Vinyasa sequence for beginners. But it is also a powerful backbend in its own right, so it's worth taking some time to work on this pose in isolation.

Cobra done with the arms bent is sometimes called Baby Cobra. If you straighten your arms, that's Full Cobra, but don't be in a hurry to graduate to this.

Benefits

Cobra Pose increases the mobility of the spine, strengthens spinal support muscles, and can help relieve back pain. It opens the chest and the front of the body.

Step-by-Step Instructions

If you're in the middle of a Sun Salutation, you'll be coming into Cobra from Knees, Chest, and Chin. If not, you can begin by lying down flat on your stomach.

1. Place your palms flat on the ground directly under your shoulders. Bend your elbows straight back and hug them into your sides.
2. Pause for a moment looking straight down at your mat with your neck in a neutral position. Anchor your pubic bone to the floor.
3. Inhale to lift your chest off the floor. Roll your shoulders back and keep your low ribs on the floor. Make sure your elbows continue hugging your sides. Don't let them wing out to either side.
4. Keep your neck neutral. Don’t crank it up. Your gaze should stay on the floor.

Exhale to release back to the floor (or push back to Downward Facing Dog, Adho Mukha Svanasana, if you are doing a Sun Salutation).

Common Mistakes

Keeping your hands aligned underneath your shoulders is important. If your hands are too far away from your body, the resulting angle will bring your shoulders up by your ears.

Also be sure not to straighten your arms so much that your elbows are locked. Feel free to slightly bend the elbows or keep the arms at 90 degrees. Elbows should be pointed backward and not out to your sides. This is a move that relies on your back muscles, not your arm muscles.

The lower back is often more flexible than the upper back, so you might end up with more flex in that area. Aim to keep the curve even for the whole back.

Don't overextend your neck backward. While it will be arched, it should be in a natural extension of the upper spine.

Safety and Precautions

Cobra Pose should not be done if you have carpal tunnel syndrome or an injury to your back, arms, or shoulders. Also, avoid it if you recently had abdominal surgery or are pregnant.

If you feel any strain on your lower back, relax the pose to lower yourself a bit, or release down to rest on your forearms.

Warrior Pose yoga

                               Warrior Pose

How to do Warrior Pose (Veerabhadrasana)

Veerabhadrasana or Virabhadrasana is one of the most graceful yoga postures and it adds beauty and grace to one’s yoga practice.

• 1. Stand straight with your legs wide apart by a distance of
    at least 3-4 feet.
• 2. Turn your right foot out by 90 degrees and left foot in by
     about 15 degrees.
• 3. Checkpoint: Is the heel of the right foot aligned to the
      center of the left foot?
• 4. Lift both arms sideways to shoulder height with your
     palms facing upwards.
• 5. Checkpoint: Are your arms parallel to the ground?
•     Breathing out, bend your right knee.
• 6. Checkpoint: Are your right knee and right ankle forming
      a straight line? Ensure that your knee does not overshoot the ankle.
• 7. Turn your head and look to your right.
• 8. As you settle down in the yoga posture stretch your arms further.
• 9.  Make a gentle effort to push your pelvis down. Hold the yoga posture with the                 determination of a warrior. Smile like a happy smiling warrior. Keep breathing as you 
•   go down.
• 10. Breathing in, come up.
• 11. Breathing out, bring your hands down from the sides.
• 12. Repeat the yoga posture for the left side (turn your left foot out by 90 degrees and turn the right foot in by about 15 degrees).

 

Benefits of the Warrior Pose (Virabhadrasana)

• 1. Strengthens and tones the arms, legs and lower back.
• 2. Improves balance in the body, helps increase stamina.
• 3. Beneficial for those with sedentary or deskbound jobs.
• 4. Extremely beneficial in case of frozen shoulders.
• 5. Releases stress in the shoulders very effectively in a short span of time.
• 6. Brings auspiciousness, courage, grace and peace.
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Contraindications and Cautions

• High blood pressure
• Heart problems
• Students with shoulder problems should keep their raised arms parallel (or slightly wider than parallel) to each other.
• Students with neck problems should keep their head in a neutral position and not look up at the hands.

Bound Angle Pose

 

Bound Angle Pose

How to Do Bound Angle Pose in Yoga

Bound Angle Pose is a well-known seated yoga posture that opens the hips and groins. It is also sometimes called “Cobbler’s Pose,” after the way cobblers in India sit on the ground to work on footwear. The Sanskrit name for this pose — “Baddha Konasana (BAH-duh cone-AHS-uh-nuh)” — comes from three words:

• “Baddha” — meaning “bound”
• “Kona” — meaning “angle”
• “Asana” — meaning “pose”

Instructions

1. Begin seated in Staff Pose (Dandasana) with your spine straight and your legs extended in front of you on the mat. Rest your arms at your sides with your palms on the mat.
2. Bend your knees and draw your heels in toward your pelvis. Press the soles of your feet together and let your knees drop open to both sides. It’s important to allow your knees to drop open only as far as they will go — never press on your knees in this pose!
3. Clasp your big toes with your first two fingers. Press the outer edges of your feet firmly together, and also press them firmly into the floor.
4. Sit up straight. Extend through the length of your entire spine through the crown of your head.
5. Gaze softly straight ahead, or at the tip of your nose.
6. Hold the pose for up to five minutes. To release the pose, first release the clasp from your toes. Then, gently lift your knees and extend your legs once again along the floor in Staff Pose (Dandasana).

Tips

Practicing Bound Angle Pose can be a great way to counteract poor posture and tight hips after a long day of sitting or traveling. Keep the following information in mind when practicing this pose:

• Never press on your knees in this pose! Doing so can cause injury to your groin and knees. Instead, let the heads of your thigh bones (the part of the bone that connects in the hip socket) release toward the floor.
• Avoid jerking, pulling, pushing, or forcing any movement in this pose. Let your movements be slow and smooth.
• Do not “flutter” your knees like a butterfly.
• Keep your pelvis in a neutral position, balancing equally on both sit bones. To find this neutral position, rock forward and back and shift your hips side to side when you are in the pose. When you are neutral, your pubic bone and tailbone should both be the same distance from the floor, and both sit bones should have an even distribution of weight.
• If you are folding forward, imagine that you are drawing your chest toward your toes, instead of your forehead to your heels. The aim of the forward fold is to keep the front of the torso and the spine long — not rounded.

Cautions

Avoid practicing this pose if you have a groin or knee injury. If your hips are very tight, it might be difficult to open your thighs and/or to press your feet together. Never force the pose. Instead, practice a modified version until your flexibility increases (see Modifications & Variations, below). Always work within your own range of limits and abilities. If you have any medical concerns, talk with your doctor before practicing yoga.

Mermaid Pose

How To Do Mermaid Pose:

1. Start with Adho Mukha Svanasana, the Downward Facing Dog pose.
2. Spread your fingers outward, lift the hips, and elongate your spine. Balance yourself on the heels.
3. Exhaling deeply, bend the right knee in such a way that it rests between the hands spread out at shoulder width.
4. Let the right ankle rest near the left wrist on the yoga mat in such a way that the right knee lies close to the right wrist.
5. Stretch the left leg backward so that the left toes are touching the floor.
6. Exerting pressure on the fingertips, elongate your entire body and pull the torso from the thigh. Let the tailbone fall closer to the left heel.
7. Drawing down via the shin of the right leg and dividing your balance between the hips, pull the right thigh towards your midline.
8. Pushing your legs, lengthen your spine as high as possible.
9. Let the right hand rest on the right thigh.
10. Bend the left knee and using your left hand clasp the left foot.
11. Pull the left foot as close as possible to your body in such a way that the toes rest in the elbow’s crease.
12. Keeping the spine elongated, bring the right hand above your head. Bend it at the elbow and clasp the left hand.
13. Squaring the torso and hips forward, exert pressure on the legs to activate the core and lift the spine.
14. Keep you gaze fixed at the sky with deep breaths.
15. Hold the pose for 10 breaths.
16. Then release the left leg allowing it to extend backward.
17. Place you hands in front of the body.
18. Tucking in the left toes, come back to Adhvo Mukha Svanasana.
19. Repeat the same steps with other side too.

This makes one repetition. Do 5 to 7 such repetition, relaxing for about 15 seconds in between.

Benefits Of Mermaid Pose:

The advanced version of One Legged Pigeon Pose comes with an array of health benefits. Here is what you can expect from practicing Mermaid Pose regularly:

1. A stronger pelvic floor and core
2. Freedom from back ache and sciatica
3. A more flexible and stronger lower back, quad muscles, and hip flexors
4. A better level of balance
5. Stronger and more open shoulders and chest
6. A better control over your sexual desires
7. A stronger and more potent digestive system and reproductive system

A Word Of Caution:

Never practice this pose in case you are suffering from any kind of injuries to the meniscus, knee, or ligaments. Avoid practicing the pose if you have a history of hip or shoulder dislocation. Always make sure that the foot in the front is flexed enough to avoid knee injury. Keep the spine extended and lifted throughout. Do not push yourself beyond your limits. Keep practicing for perfection.