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5 Belly Scoop to Asymmetrical Reach
Move back to Tabletop. Draw your knees to touch. Extend your
left leg back, toes tucked, pressing your heel back to lengthen
your calf muscles. Press into your hands. Curl your right knee
toward your nose, scooping in your belly and lengthening your
upper back. Draw your right heel as close to your hamstrings as
possible (pictured). Place your bent right knee back down, and
come into an asymmetrical reach, lifting your left leg and right
arm off the ground. Continue to draw your
belly up, and lengthen from foot to hand.
Do this 5 times, then repeat on the other
side, concentrating on abdominal control
and energising your arms and legs.
7 Standing Knee-to-Chest Variation
This pose will help you balance in Adho Mukha Vrksasana
(Handstand), because it doesn’t allow a bend in your
lower back or external rotation in your hips (root causes of
imbalance). Start in Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Shift your
weight to your left leg. Draw your right knee toward your
chest, placing a block between your upper thigh and rib cage.
Clasp your hands around the front of your right shin to find
balance and length in your spine. Then release your hands up
alongside your ears. Hold for 10 counts, then repeat each side
3–5 times.
6 Plank Pose variation
Begin in Downward-Facing Dog, finding length in your spine.
Hold for 5 breaths, then roll forward to Plank Pose. Make
sure your shoulders are stacked over your wrists, heels over
toes. Straighten your arms and energetically draw your wrists
toward your toes, engaging your core. Hold this pose for 5–10
breaths. Then lower one arm down, and then the other, into
Forearm Plank (pictured). Isometrically move your forearms
closer together. Stay here for 5 breaths. Then, press into one
hand, then the other, coming back to Plank Pose. Lift back to
Down Dog. Repeat 6 times, alternating which hand initiates
the lift.8 Descended Femur Fold
Come back to Mountain Pose. Take your hands to your hips,
shifting your weight into your left leg. Draw your right femur
(upper leg bone) farther up into your hip socket. Your right
leg remains straight, the foot lifting a few inches off the
ground, in line with your standing leg. Maintain that lift, and
hinge at your hips, coming toward a pike position (pictured).
Draw your core in and up, lengthening your spine. For an
additional challenge, extend your arms forward alongside
your ears. Stay for a few rounds of breath, then lift up, and
repeat on the other side..