Yoga Block Magic: Align Your Backbone

Prasarita Padottanasana (Broad-Legged Standing Ahead Bend Pose) is certainly 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 delicate and receptive. These advantages can be found to just about everybody—with a little bit assist from a Yoga Block.

Why Follow Prasarita Padottanasana?

Working towards Prasarita Padottanasana confers many advantages. It strengthens and stretches the internal legs, hamstrings and backbone; tones the belly organs; and calms the mind. It’s mentioned to alleviate some complications and scale back fatigue.

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

Utilizing a Yoga Block in Prasarita Padottanasana may help folks of all ranges of flexibility apply 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.

The right way to Follow Prasarita Padottanasana with a Yoga Block

1. Start by standing on a nonskid Yoga Mat together with your ft hips-width aside.
2. Leap 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 internal and outer heels and balls of your ft planted evenly? If not, likelihood is it’s possible you’ll really feel the burden sagging into your internal ft. Permit the muscle mass 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 just a few 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 greatest, however you may also use a single 4-inch Yoga Block. Every block has three dimensions: tall, medium and flat. Attempt every one to see which feels greatest.
6. Keep for five or 10 deep breaths.
7. To come back up, place your palms in your hips and raise 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 started educating in 1986. Charlotte is the creator of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third guide 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.