Welcome to yoga workshop Fridays! Don’t know what I am talking about, check out this post.

This series will be each Friday explaining how to do a particular pose leading up to a peak pose on the last Friday of the month. Throughout this series, I ask that you listen to your body to prevent injury and warm up for a pose when needed.

Disclaimer: Though I am a certified yoga instructor, please consult your doctor before you begin practice and note that everyone’s practice may look a bit different as you align the pose to your body.

Happy October!! We are starting out this month with a simple lunge pose, crescent lunge or anjayenasana in sandskrit. This pose is high lunge with an optional backbend to take the pose deeper. I use crescent lunge in my classes as a transition pose to warrior 2 or warrior 1. 

How to do the pose:

Begin in downdog, inhale one leg up for downdog split and exhale as you step the foot through between your hands. Inhale as you lift your arms overhead, keeping your front knee over the ankle. Palms turned in so there is external rotation in the arms. Relax the shoulder blades down your back. Hips facing forward. Draw the tailbone down towards the floor as you bring your gaze up between your hands.

If you are comfortable doing so, inhale lengthening up through the crown of the head then exhale as you lean back taking a backbend here, arms following.

To release from this pose: inhale to slowly lift out of the backbend coming to a neutral spine, then exhale bringing your hands down to the mat, framing your front foot. Step the front foot back to come to a plank position and flow through vinyasa or step back and lift the hips up settling into downdog. Once you are in downdog, repeat the pose on the second side.

Notes:

If it is too much to balance and stay on the back toes, you can lower the knee down to the ground and take a low lunge variation.

Benefits:

• Heart opener – opening the front torso
• Strengthens muscles in the back
• Improves balance
• Stretches the hip flexors

Share your pose on Instagram, tagging @bridgesthroughlife and hashtags #bridgesthroughlife #yogaworkshopFridays

I hope you enjoy this series. If you have any suggestions for what poses you would like me to break down, I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment or send me an email [email protected]