Upward Facing Dog
Keep your hands in line
with your shoulders,
pushing your fingers
into your mat to take the
pressure off your wrists.
Lift your chest, pull your
shoulders away from your
ears and keep your head in
line with your spine. Notice
my thighs are off the floor,
activate your inner thighs
to get the lift.
Unlike upward dog, cobra
gives us a deeper back
stretch. Keep your thighs
on the floor, making sure
they are still actively
engaged. You want your
hands to be by your
ribcage keeping your arms
slightly bent to allow the
spine to open. Keep your
head in line with the spine.
Keep your knee in line
with your hip, make sure
that the foot is close to
the body as you push
the back leg as far as
possible. Don’t worry if
your butt doesn’t touch
the floor – make sure that
there is no pain in your
knee. If there is, adjust
your angle. Roll onto the
muscle to feel the stretch.
Stay in Pigeon, lift your
back leg up as much as you
can. It is important that you
don’t roll too much to one
side or you will ‘lose’ the
stretch.
You may be feeling this
in either you hip, back or
glutes.
If you want to learn how to
rotate your shoulder or ‘flip
your grip’ head over to the
“Push to Progress” section
to find out how!
Reverse Plank is something
that will build strength and
flexibility in your shoulders,
core and hips. Lift your
chest and hips to get your
feet flat on the floor but
don’t worry too much if
you’re not quite there yet!
Unlike in any other form
of exercise, in yoga, you
should be able to talk while
you’re in Plank. Instead of
‘bracing’ your abs, think
about pulling your navel up
keeping everything active
but allowing you to breathe
comfortably.
Not quite there yet? You
can put your knees down
and build up to full plank. If
your wrists hurt, place yoga
blocks under your hands
and grip them OR push
your fingers into the floor.
