Welcome to the second yoga workshop Fridays. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go here to check out the first 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.
Whether you are a beginner yogi or more experienced, I hope that you can find this series beneficial. Maybe you will learn a new cue or be able to work on the peak pose a bit further. I will do my best to give suggestions for all levels. If you are a beginner, I do suggest having a block or 2 and a strap as those props can help you with alignment as you work on the pose to get deeper into it.
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.
Our second week is forward fold (uttanasana) and half lift (ardha uttanasana). I decided to pair these two poses together since they are paired together in a sun salutation.
How to do the poses:
From tadasana, exhale to fold forward hinging from the hips. Try to keep the legs straight, but if you can’t, you can slightly bend the knees so that your hands come to the ground. You could also bring your hands to blocks so you can focus on lengthening the torso and keeping those legs straight. As you take a few breaths here, with each exhale, release into the fold to try to fold more deeply.
When you are ready, inhale, coming to a half lift. Lift your hands up to the tops of the finger tips or bring your hands to your shins so that you can straighten your legs. Spine is neutral. Some teachers refer to this as “flat back”, but when you think about that, you can not and should not flatten your back because of the natural curves which is why I say neutral spine. In class, I cue the pose as “look long.”
In half lift, you are lengthening the torso as you roll the thighs inward and draw the belly button up and in. Lift your head slightly but not too much as you want to avoid straining your neck. Again, in half lift, you could use a block under your hands to help prop you up.
Benefits:
Stretches the back of the body
Strengthens legs
Half lift engages the abdomen
Share your pose on Instagram, tagging @bridgesthroughlife and using hashtags #bridgesthroughlife #yogaworkshopFridays
I hope you enjoy this series. If you have any suggestions for what poses you would like me to break down, leave a comment or send me an email [email protected]
