South Okanagan Yoga Academy Yoga Teacher Training Programs

Featured Asana

Chakra concentration: Anahata and Manipura because of the opening and contracting in these areas.

Standing in Tadasana (mountain pose), feet hip width apart, root through the four corners of the feet. Descend the tailbone, lengthen through the crown of the head. Press the hands together in Anjali Mudra at the heart centre.

Inhale the hands above the head, while drawing the shoulders down the back. Exhale, draw in the abdomen, and bend out of the hips to the right side.

Inhale up to centre. Exhale left. Inhale up to centre. Pretend you are a slice of toast going into the toaster as you bend from side to side. This may help to keep you in the lateral plane.

Try to maintain equal weight distribution across the four corners of each foot.

Repeat three times on each side. End by coming back to Tadasana (mountain).

As you stand in Tadasana, become aware of any changes in your body. Allow a few breaths here.

Never bend to the point of pain. Always respect and honor your own body. Make the pose your own.

Benefits:

• Good lateral stretch to the spine, maintaining flexibility and elasticity.
• Brings awareness to the lateral plane of the body.
• Opens the throat, chest, and shoulders.
• Stretches arms and legs.
• Tones reproductive organs for females.
• Builds focus and develops willpower.

Cautions:

• If you experience lower back pain, lower the arms to the sides or to the heart in Namaste and do not bend as far.
• High blood pressure, low blood pressure, or heart disease, keep arms lower than the heart.

Modifications:

• In a beginner class or for the above cautions, one hand may rest with elbow flexed at the hip, while reaching the opposite extended arm down the outside of the thigh on the same side.
• Another gentle variation is to have the arms extended out to the sides, then in a slow, fluid motion, extend and reach the right arm up and over the head, as the left arm extends downward behind the buttocks. Alternate sides.