Strengthens the back muscles. Bow Pose.

Bend back into the shape of a bow to feel energetically locked, loaded, and ready to take aim.

Dhanurasana (Bow Pose): Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1

Lie on your belly with your hands alongside your torso, palms up. (You can lie on a folded blanket to pad the front of your torso and legs.) Exhale and bend your knees, bringing your heels as close as you can to your buttocks. Reach back with your hands and take hold of your ankles (but not the tops of the feet). Make sure your knees aren't wider than the width of your hips, and keep your knees hip width for the duration of the pose.

Step 2

Inhale and strongly lift your heels away from your buttocks and, at the same time, lift your thighs away from the floor. This will have the effect of pulling your upper torso and head off the floor. Burrow the tailbone down toward the floor, and keep your back muscles soft. As you continue lifting the heels and thighs higher, press your shoulder blades firmly against your back to open your heart. Draw the tops of the shoulders away from your ears. Gaze forward.

Step 3

With the belly pressed against the floor, breathing will be difficult. Breathe more into the back of your torso, and be sure not to stop breathing.

Step 4

Stay in this pose anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds. Release as you exhale, and lie quietly for a few breaths. You can repeat the pose once or twice more.

Benefits

Stretches the entire front of the body, ankles, thighs and groins, abdomen and chest, and throat, and deep hip flexors (psoas)
Strengthens the back muscles
Improves posture
Stimulates the organs of the abdomen and neck

Modifications and Props

If it isn't possible for you to hold your ankles directly, wrap a strap around the fronts of your ankles and hold the free ends of the strap, keeping your arms fully extended.

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Strengthens the wrists, arms, and abdomen. Scale Pose

Strengthen your wrists, arms, and abs, hanging in the balance of Tolasana. Scale Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions Step 1 Perform Padmasana (Lotus Pose). Place the palms on the floor beside the hips. Step 2 Exhale, push the hands against the floor, contract the abdominal muscles, and lift the legs and buttocks away from the floor. Step 3 Hold suspended for 10 to 15 seconds. Then lower your legs and buttocks on an exhalation, change the cross of the legs, and repeat for the same length of time. Modifications and Props With the hands on the floor, it's often difficult to lift the legs away from the floor. Use a block under each hand to increase the length of the arms and assist the lift of the legs. Benefits Strengthens the wrists, arms, and abdomen Modifications and Props With the hands on the floor, it's often difficult to lift the legs away from the floor. Use a block under each hand to increase the length of the ...

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Yoga exercise for stress. Wide-Legged Forward Bend

Open wide into Prasarita Padottanasana I to increase flexibility by leaps and bounds. Wide-Legged Forward Bend: Step-by-Step Instructions Step 1 Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose), facing one of the long edges of your sticky mat, then step or lightly hop your feet apart anywhere from 3 to 4 1/2 feet (depending on your height: taller people should step wider). Rest your hands on your hips. Make sure your inner feet are parallel to each other. Lift your inner arches by drawing up on the inner ankles, and press the outer edges of your feet and ball of the big toe firmly into the floor. Engage the thigh muscles by drawing them up. Inhale and lift your chest, making the front torso slightly longer than the back. Step 2 Exhale and, maintaining the length of the front torso, lean the torso forward from the hip joints. As your torso approaches parallel to the floor, press your fingertips onto the floor directly below your shoulders. Extend your elbows fully. Your l...

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Stretches and stimulates the muscles of the belly and front of the neck. Fish Pose

It is said that if you perform the fish pose in water, you will be able to float like a fish. Fish Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions Step 1 Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Inhale, lift your pelvis slightly off the floor, and slide your hands, palms down, below your buttocks. Then rest your buttocks on the backs of your hands (and don’t lift them off your hands as you perform this pose). Be sure to tuck your forearms and elbows up close to the sides of your torso. Step 2 Inhale and press your forearms and elbows firmly against the floor. Next press your scapulas into your back and, with an inhale, lift your upper torso and head away from the floor. Then release your head back onto the floor. Depending on how high you arch your back and lift your chest, either the back of your head or its crown will rest on the floor. There should be a minimal amount of weight on your head to avoid crunching your neck. (For more about this, ...

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