Two poses for today are Staff Pose and Forward Bend.
Staff Pose
Dandasana is the basic plank posture. The name comes from the Sanskrit word danda which means “stick” or “staff” and asana which means “posture” or “seat.”
Steps
- Lie down on your stomach
- Bring your hands towards your shoulders, keeping your palms on the ground
- Now, as you breathe in, push up your body forming a straight line. The arms are perpendicular to the ground and shoulders are right over your wrists, while the body is parallel to the floor
- Hold the pose and continue breathing
- As you exhale, come back to a sitting position and relax
Benefits
- Tones all the core muscles, including the abdomen, chest, and lower back
- Strengthens the arms, wrist, and shoulders
- Prepares the body for more challenging arm yoga poses.
- Strengthens spine muscles, lengthens it
- Improves posture
Forward Bend
Steps
- Stand straight with feet together and arms alongside the body.
- Balance your weight equally on both feet.
- Breathing in, extend your arms overhead.
- Breathing out, bend forward and down towards the feet.
- Stay in the posture for 20-30 seconds and continue to breathe deeply.
- Keep the legs and spine erect; hands rest either on the floor, beside the feet, or on the legs.
- On the out-breath, move the chest towards the knees; lift the hips and tailbone higher; press the heels down; let the head relax, and move it gently towards the feet. Keep breathing deeply.
- Breathing in, stretch your arms forward and up, slowly come up to the standing position.
- Breathing out, bring the arms to the sides.
Benefits
- Stretches all the muscles of the back of the body.
- Invigorates the nervous system by increasing the -blood supply.
- Makes the spine supple.
- Tones the abdominal organs.
