Pose of the Month (January 2012)

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

Happy New Year 2012! For some, the celebration weighs hard on your liver… so here is a pose that will massage it back to health!How to:

Lie supine (chest facing upward) on the floor, and if necessary, place a thickly folded blanket under your shoulders to protect your neck. Bend your knees and set your feet on the floor, about shoulder width and heels as close to the sit bones as possible.

Exhale and press your inner feet and arms actively into the floor, push your tailbone upward toward the pubis, firming (but not hardening) the buttocks, and lift the buttocks off the floor. Keep your thighs and inner feet parallel. Clasp the hands below your pelvis and extend through the arms to help you stay on the tops of your shoulders.

Lift your buttocks until the thighs are about parallel to the floor. Keep your knees directly over the heels, but push them forward, away from the hips, and lengthen the tailbone toward the backs of the knees. Lift the pubis toward the navel.

Lift your chin slightly away from the sternum, firming the shoulder blades against your back. Press the top of the sternum toward the chin. Firm the outer arms, broaden the shoulder blades, and try to lift the space between them at the base of the neck (where it's resting on the blanket) up into the torso.

Stay in the pose anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Release with an exhalation, rolling the spine slowly down onto the floor.

Benefits:

•Stretches the chest, neck, and spine
•Calms the brain and helps alleviate stress and mild depression
•Stimulates abdominal organs, lungs, and thyroid
•Rejuvenates tired legs
•Improves digestion
•Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
•Relieves menstrual discomfort when done supported
•Reduces anxiety, fatigue, backache, headache, and insomnia
•Therapeutic for asthma, high blood pressure and osteoporosis

NAMASTE!!!