The other day, I told someone that I thought Supported Fish Pose was one of the three pose just about everyone should do every day. I was speaking off the cuff, just thinking that it was a great pose, almost all of us could really use it, and that it probably wasn't the only pose like this. Well, they called me on it and asked, "What are the other two poses?" I thought about it and this is what I came up with and why, in no particular order...
- Obviously, Supported Fish Pose. This is the restorative pose where you roll a blanket, put it down behind your seated self like a tail, and then lie down with the blanket the length of your spine. This puts the muscles in your upper back, in particular, in slack so they can FINALLY take a break. Its a great stretch for the front of your chest and shoulders and provides a lovely, gentle, supported backbend for your low back. This is an important pose for most of us because we generally spend alot of our day hunched forward or reaching forward - driving, typing, doing fine motor work, etc. I think a good 5-10 minutes here is time VERY well spent :-) and gives you the benefits of savasana at the same time. How's that for multi-tasking!?
- Tadasana, Samasthithi, Mountain Pose. These are essentially all the same pose. Each yoga tradition tends to describe it and name it a little differently. Essentially, you are standing with weight even on the 4 corners of your two feet, stacking your joints, lengthening your spine and strengthening your core gently. This is a great pose as it forces equilibrium in your body - hold this pose for a few minutes and you will notice the intelligence of your muscles adjusting to support your here in this alert, relatively relaxed position. It requires that you not slouch, not compensate. And this leads to better posture and support in all that you do, all day long. I recommend holding it for 5 minutes at a time.
- Active Reclined Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana). For this pose, lie down on your back with the soles of your feet together, knees wide apart. Engage your belly just enough to keep a natural lumbar curve in your lower back. Begin by completely relaxing your inner thighs and groin. This may take some prop support under your bottom or legs. Then, move as slowly as you can, almost imperceptibly, to bring your knees together and the soles of you feet to the floor. Keep breathing as you do this, using the least amount of effort possible - that means no help from your shoulders :-). Moving the legs up and down in rhythm with your breath is a nice way to build strength and relaxing in this pose is a nice way to stretch. But by moving so slowly, not quite relaxing, not quite efforting, you begin to notice where you work unneccesarily and how to more effectively isolate essential effort. This is especially important for the inner thigh and pelvic region as its an are that we tend to hold emotional tension as well as physical tension. This focussed work helps to release both and leaves the body/self more flexible (and the back a whole lot happier). I recommend repeating this moving pose at least 5 times in a row, resting in between as you need to.
So, there you have it. The 3 yoga poses that I think most of us would benefit most from. Try doing them every day for a couple weeks and let me know what happens!
I know its not always possible to connect with other yogis, that we all need extra inspiration in our own practices, and sometimes even a little kick in the butt to get into that yoga zone. I hope this blog will help you with that (and me, too!) as I share pieces of my classes, practices and inspiration with you.