Yoga Block Magic: Align Your Backbone

Prasarita Padottanasana (Extensive-Legged Standing Ahead Bend Pose) is considered one of yoga’s extra enjoyable standing poses. Its symmetrical form retains your pelvis, sacroiliac joint and backbone impartial, whereas the lively rooting of your ft and legs permits your higher physique to be comfortable and receptive. These advantages can be found to just about everybody—with somewhat assist from a Yoga Block.

Why Follow Prasarita Padottanasana?

Working towards Prasarita Padottanasana confers many advantages. It strengthens and stretches the inside legs, hamstrings and backbone; tones the stomach organs; and calms the mind. It’s stated to alleviate some complications and cut back fatigue.

Prasarita might be contraindicated for individuals with tight hamstrings. When your hamstrings are taut, your pelvis can’t tilt ahead together with the backbone. This may put strain on the discs within the decrease again, which may result in disc issues. Additionally, curling the torso ahead with the intention to attain the ground contracts your stomach muscle tissue, proscribing free respiratory.

Utilizing a Yoga Block in Prasarita Padottanasana might help individuals of all ranges of flexibility follow safely and comfortably. Anybody can profit from utilizing a Yoga Block on this pose. My hips and hamstrings are fairly versatile, however I nonetheless get pleasure from utilizing a block on this pose for the sensation of continuity it creates in my torso. A number of of my most flexible college students get pleasure from utilizing a block as nicely.

Yoga Blocks can be found in cork, 3-inch or 4-inch foam, marbled foam, recycled foam or wooden. Hugger Mugger’s Huge Block is further massive for further stability and luxury.

Learn how to Follow Prasarita Padottanasana with a Yoga Block

1. Start by standing on a nonskid Yoga Mat along with your ft hips-width aside.
2. Soar or step your ft out to a large stance, a couple of leg-length aside.
3. Plant your ft into the bottom, feeling the footprint you’re making in your mat. Are the inside and outer heels and balls of your ft planted evenly? If not, chances are high you might really feel the burden sagging into your inside ft. Permit the muscle tissue and pores and skin of your outer legs to stream down alongside your bones out of your hips to your outer ft that can assist you root the ft extra evenly.
4. Place your palms in your hips. Bending out of your hip joints, let your torso come ahead so far as it would go with out shedding contact with deep respiratory.
5. Place your palms on the ground and take a couple of breaths. Now place your palms on a Yoga Block and verify in to see how that modifications your respiratory. A Huge Blue Block or two 4-inch Yoga Blocks work finest, however you too can use a single 4-inch Yoga Block. Every block has three dimensions: tall, medium and flat. Attempt each to see which feels finest.
6. Keep for five or 10 deep breaths.
7. To come back up, place your palms in your hips and carry again as much as an upright place. Place your palms collectively in entrance of your coronary heart, bend your knees barely and permit the burden of your pelvis to launch into your legs. Calm down your stomach and breathe deeply, resting.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and commenced educating in 1986. Charlotte is the writer of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third e book is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Purple Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards.