Australian Yoga Journal - April 2016

77

april 2016

yogajournal.com.au

Box on the Wall

Benefit

Stretches your arms; opens your shoulders

Instruction

Place your hands on a wall shoulder-width
apart, with your wrists at least at hip height.
Check that the inner triads of both hands are
firm against the wall and that your index-finger
knuckles are heavy. Straighten your arms and
walk your feet back until your heels are under
your sitting bones. Lower your head between
your upper arms and keep pressing your hands
into the wall. Lift your sitting bones and engage
your quadriceps. Breathe freely through your
nose for 10–15 breaths.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)

Benefit

Lengthens your neck; stretches your spine; opens your chest

Instruction

Lie on your back and bend your knees. Place your feet hip-width

apart, close to your buttocks. Inhale to slowly raise your hips. Lift

your heels and come up onto your toes. Interlace your fingers,

stretch your arms toward your feet, and walk your shoulders under

you. Then unclasp your fingers and place your hands under your

hips with your fingers pointing out—this helps you elevate your

hips. If you can, lower your heels. Press your feet into the floor,

bringing even more weight into the shoulders and expansion

through your chest. Hold for 5 breaths.

Warm up your spine and open your shoulders and chest

with these prep poses for Adho Mukha Svanasana.

Cat-Cow Pose

Benefit

Increases circulation to your spinal cord; teaches you how to hold your
hands in Down Dog; unlocks your pelvis

Instruction

Come onto your hands and knees, with your shoulders over your wrists,
and your knees underneath your sitting bones. Point your middle fingers
straight ahead and spread all of your fingers. Press the “inner triads”—
each hand’s index-finger knuckle, inner wrist, and thumb-knuckle
base—into the mat and turn the eyes of your elbows (i.e. your inner
elbows) to face each other. Inhale to arch your back, lifting your head and
sitting bones simultaneously. Exhale to round your back, drawing your
belly toward your spine and dropping your sitting bones and head at the
same time. Move back and forth between arching and rounding for 10
rounds, with careful attention to aligning your breath with your movement.