YOGAJOURNAL.COM / 84 / DECEMBER 2017
MASTER CLASS
PRACTICE WELL
STICK POSE
Lie back with a sandbag nearby. Straighten your legs and press
them together. Reach strongly through your heels. Reach your
arms along the ground above your head, and place a sandbag
on your palms and wrists. If this is difficult on your shoulders,
place your hands on a folded blanket instead. Your rib cage
moves with your arms as you anchor your pelvis with your
extended legs. This posture helps you feel the full length of your
torso. It opens your shoulders and upper chest, and creates
space in your hip joints. Stay for 3–5 minutes, breathing naturally.RESTORATIVE BACKBEND
Sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose). Place a rolled blanket on the mat
for your shoulder blades to rest on. Loop a strap around the mid-
dle of your thighs. Make sure your knees are facing up. Release
your legs fully into the strap. Place a sandbag (or 10-pound
weight) on the tops of your thighs. Now lie down. Crisscross your
arms behind your head and reach toward opposite shoulders.
Rest your head on your arms. This pose will open your torso to
receiving prana. Stay here for 3–5 minutes, breathing naturally
through your nose. Switch your arms halfway through.1 2
(^34)
ANANTASANA Vishnu’s Pose, variation
Remove the props and lie down on your right side with
extended legs—as if doing a side-lying Mountain Pose. Keep
your feet flexed and your top arm out in front of your chest with
your fingers on the floor for stability. Prop your head in your right
hand. Reach your right elbow farther from your torso to extend
your bottom waist and rib cage. Stay for 1–3 minutes, then
repeat on the other side. This opens the side of your body that
is on the mat. Breathing easily depends significantly on finding
space and freedom of movement in this part of the body.
CHAIR SQUAT, VARIATION
Place the front legs of a chair along the long edge of your mat. Sit
on the front edge of the seat. Separate your knees so your thighs
(and feet) make a 90-degree angle with each other. Elongate your
torso, and then release forward between your legs. Place your
forehead on stacked blocks so that the pose feels easy. Bring
your fingers to the floor, and use your elbows to lift up the skin of
your inner knees and lightly press them back. This pose can quiet
your nervous system and teach you how to move the flow of
prana and breath into the back body. Stay for 3–5 minutes.