Two poses for today are Upward Dog and Easy Pose

Upward Dog and Easy Pose

Upward Dog Pose

The upward-facing dog is usually done as part of the sun salutation sequence of poses when you go through your vinyasa flow. The sequence typically moves from chaturanga to upward facing dog to downward-facing dog. The upward dog is often seen as a transitional posture.

1. Move from chaturanga dandasana, exhaling as you lower yourself slowly toward the ground from a plank position. As your body approaches the ground, inhale to straighten your arms as you roll over your toes, changing your foot position from toes tucked under to resting on the tops of your feet. If you can’t roll over your toes, it’s fine to flip them one at a time. Don’t bring your thighs to the floor during the transition if you can help it.
2. Open your chest toward the ceiling as you straighten your arms. Your gaze will go up slightly, but it’s not necessary to throw your head back.
3. Keep your legs engaged and drop your hips toward the floor. The only things touching the floor are the palms of your hands and the tops of your feet. Push strongly into both.
4. Keep your shoulders over your wrists and draw your shoulder blades down and toward your spine to create space between your shoulders and your ears.
5. Exhale and roll back over your toes to plant the balls of your feet before lifting your hips to a downward facing dog.

Benefits

• This strong backbend helps stretch the abdominals, chest, and shoulders while strengthening the arms and the posterior chain of the body, particularly the spinal erectors that help with maintaining good posture.
• Most of us spend a lot of time sitting at a desk, with our shoulders rolled forward, neck tilted down, and generally slumped without much engagement of the abs or low back.
• This pose can help reset good posture and encourage proper alignment. Proper alignment and good posture can help reduce the incidence of low back pain. Plus, stretching and opening the chest and shoulders just feels good.

Easy Pose

Easy Pose (Sukhasana) is the name for any comfortable, cross-legged, seated position, and one of the most basic poses used in yoga practice and meditation. In this case, however, easy doesn’t mean the opposite of difficult. It means “with ease.”

Steps

• Begin sitting on the mat with the sitting bones on the front edge of a firm cushion or folded blanket.
• Cross your shins parallel to the mat, bringing each foot more or less beneath the opposite knee.
• Press your sitting bones down to find length in the spine. Firm your shoulder blades in.
• Place your hands on your lap or knees with palms up (more open), or down (calming).
• Try to switch the cross of your legs each time you come into the pose.

Benefits

• Calms the mind.
• Strengthens the back.
• Keeps your hips mobile.
• Good pose to practise for meditation or for Pranayama.