A Happy New Year to you all.

After feasting over the Christmas period, this is a great posture to ease away any tension and to stimulate the digestive system.

Best wishes

Izzy

January Posture of the Month  Adho Mukha Svanasana

Benefits

• Stretches the backs of the legs
• Improves co-ordination
• Lengthens the spine
• Opens the upper back
• Stimulates the digestive system

 

How to do it

 

I like the way Peter Blackaby suggests approaching this posture as it’s a relaxed and controlled approach:

 

• Begin in an all-fours position, hands under shoulders, knees under your hips
• Gently roll your weight back onto your toes
• Continue to move your weight back and away from your hands until you feel your knees lifting from the floor
• Keep the knees bent
• Ensure you are minimising pressure on the shoulders and the wrists
• Don’t worry if the legs are not straight
• Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed
• Ensure that you have lightness in the wrists and space in the upper back – this is more important than straightening your legs, especially in the early stages of learning the posture
• To come back down, lower you knees gently and with control to the floor and return to your all-fours position

 

Things to watch

• Work gently and develop a sensitive approach to the posture
• Remain focussed so that you can relax and lengthen your spine
• Ensure the weight is light on your wrists

 

Here is a link for more info about the posture including contra-indications. The description of how to go into the posture is not as I have described it: http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/downward-facing-dog/

 

Izzy Ixer

British Wheel of Yoga Dip Yoga Tutor and Coach

You can find out more about Izzy here and about yoga at the Centre here

Twitter @IzzyIxer or @IzzyYoga