Thursday, April 12, 2012

Yoga Pose of the Day: Plow Pose

I really enjoy the website http://www.mindbodygreen.com/ and recommend it to people who are beginners to yoga who want to learn basic moves.

Today's Yoga Pose of the Day is Plow Pose, which helps stretch and strengthen your lower back, releases strain in your neck, and helps improve circulation as you are lifting your body over your head.



1-Begin laying down, face up, focusing on creating length in your spine by extending through your feet and your head.

2-With your arms extended at your sides (palms facing up), bring your knees to your chest. You may keep your legs straight, or bend at the knee.

3-Engage your core, particularly your lower abs, and raise your hips straight upwards and begin to extend your feet past your head.

4-Begin to engage your shoulders, pressing them into the ground and extending through your arms (for added assistance interlace your fingers together as you extend your arms), and continue to extend your legs past your head until your hips are directly over your shoulders.

5-Rest in this position, your toes anchoring your legs to the ground. For added support in your back, bring your palms to your lower back to hold your back in place. Remember to keep your neck completely relaxed and DO NOT rotate your neck. Take 5 deep breaths.

6-To come out of this position, take a deep exhalation as you roll your spine, very slowly and one vertebrae at a time, back to the floor until you are laying down in the starting position. Rest here for about five breaths to counteract the Plow Pose.

Namaste.

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