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Bridging your body with yoga.

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) is a beginning backbend that helps to open the chest and stretch the thighs. When you’re in the pose, your arms and legs create a “locked bridge” with your body. This pose can be used as preparation for deeper backbends, or practiced with a block as a a restorative pose.

Steps for bridge pose

1.Lie supine 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, heels as  close to the sitting bones as possible.

2.Exhale and, pressing 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.

3.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.

4.Lift your chin slightly away from the sternum and, 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.

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

Benefits of Bridge Pose

Bridge Pose opens the chest, heart, and shoulders. It stretches the spine, the back of the neck, the thighs, and the hip flexors (front hip joints). Because your heart is higher than your head in this pose, it is considered a mild inversion (less strenuous than other inversions, such as Headstand) and holds all the benefits of inversions: Relief from stress, fatigue, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, and mild depression.

Bridge Pose also calms the mind and is known to be therapeutic for individuals with high blood pressure. Because it opens the chest, it increases lung capacity, which is therapeutic for those with asthma.

Of all the many gifts of yoga, this is one of the sweetest: Yoga wakes us up to life. It saves us from sleepwalking through the beauty, the amazement, the raw sensations of our passing days.

Bridge Pose also stimulates the abdominal organs and thyroid glands, which improves digestion and helps to regulate metabolism. Because it revitalizes the legs and stretches the shoulders, it can be a particularly rejuvenating pose for those who spend the day sitting in front of a computer or driving.

Cautions

Do not perform this pose if you have a neck or shoulder injury. Always work within your own range of limits and abilities. If you have any medical concerns, talk with your doctor before practicing yoga.

For more information visit on : www.worldpeaceyogaschool.com

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