Dynamic Bow Pose

Welcome back. For this session we're going to move into Dhanurasana, bow pose. Dhanurasana meaning bow, asana referring to pose. You're going to need two blocks and a strap and we'll move progressively into the pose. So some of the benefits of this pose is it works on strengthening the chest, the shoulders, the small muscles of your back and it also works on lengthening extending all the way through our abdomen and through our hip flexors. Some reasons that you might not want to participate in this pose today is if you have any shoulder pain, any low back pain, any pain that gets worse as you move into extension, moving up and into a back bend. The energy of this pose is going to be more of an outward from the center so it's more of a viana again expanding through our low back, our belly creating space that'll travel up more of a prana value and energy of lifting up through the chest. Great so we're going to go ahead and get started. You can grab your two blocks and you're going to go ahead and sit on your shins. If you need to sit on a blanket block go ahead and do so and then I'm going to slide your blocks back behind you. Okay so from here start with your palms facing forward start to lift up and the action of the arms when we move into dhanurasana is we're going to move them straight back right but there's still going to be a rotation of inner upper arms coming forward, outer arms back as we do so. So create that action then the elbows bring them on to the blocks. Start to rotate draw the outer arms in and notice an immediate puff of the heart. Find the rib cage come to neutral and then start to broaden through the back right because it's a little easier to draw the shoulders back and shoulder blades towards each other and then that starts to narrow our base. See if you can broaden so we're still drawing the outer arms in but we're creating this like lift a fanning effect of the shoulder blades. So just pause here so lifting up through the torso lengthening through the belly imprinting this action of the arms because when we're on our belly and we move into bow pose dhanurasana the arms will go back the thumbs spin down to grab hold but we're still gonna want the arm action of inner upper arms back sorry inner upper arms forward outer arms back. Go ahead and slide the blocks aside come on to all fours because we're on to all fours just take a moment to find neutral with your spine so neutral with the spine still having its natural curvature and on an inhale you're gonna take the right arm forward and left arm back. Start to spin the pinky finger up thumb rotates out from deep in the right shoulder joint and then take the left inner thigh up so notice immediately the action that starts to happen in our back right we start to bend right here from our low back the muscles start to interact see if you can create space so reach further out the crown out through the leg and get more into the upper back. Got an exhale let the left toes right fingertips touch and inhale lift up we'll just do this a few times exhale inhale lift playing with each time you lift maybe go up a little higher exhale inhale lift so we're still going for the height but more for the length exhale inhale good pause on this one draw the right left inner thigh up forgot my directions there soften through the left hip and then exhale both hands down take a pause find neutral and then take left arm up right leg back good find the spin pinky finger up deep in the shoulder joint slide the left shoulder back draw the shoulder blades down the back pause lift the right inner thigh a little bit more and you can either flex the foot or point through the toes belly button draws in just a bit here just to create stability good exhale fingertips touch toes touch inhale good exhale again bring your awareness to your low back see if you can lengthen spread out the place where we start to move from right so we're trying to access the places that are not so easy to get up inhale exhale inhale hold start to roll the shoulders back a little bit bring your awareness to your right inner thigh lifted up and soften the right hip down good exhale knees hands to the floor come on and sit back grab both of your blocks we're gonna come into a lunge so when we're in bow pose lots of action through the chest and we're kicking back the legs thighs lift off so we start to tap in to the hip flexors bring the blocks down step your right foot forward left knee and shin down top of the foot down just take your gaze back check in that the foot isn't cattywampus it's not going in or out bring the right knee over the ankle slide the blocks back right so as we slide the box back it starts to create space and then here we are opening up through the low back lengthening through the mid back creating support with the shoulder blades drawing in just a bit and then moving a little forward right broadening through the back and then dig your right heel into the earth as if you're dragging the left thigh forward so we start to have this scissoring action and then a lifting up of the pelvic floor muscles engaging mola banda just taking a few breaths here again tapping into this left side the hip flexors mostly into our illegally so as that gets tight from our lifestyle sitting typing eating good and then slowly switch right knee shin down left foot comes out in front just take your time to set it up left knee over ankle take a gaze back so the foot doesn't turn in or out slide the blocks back and then let the left sit bone start to draw down left hip softens down and then bring your awareness right back to the right hip flexor now you can feel this stretch through your right quads front of the thigh muscles all the way through the hips up into the top of the pelvis blocks can slide back see if you can lift up again not sinking down we're finding lightness and left in our poses a few more breaths start to dig the left heel and drag the right thigh forward lifting up the pelvic floor muscles good exhale slowly come on back down both blocks on the floor and then we're gonna come into bhujangasana serpent or cobra pose just bring the hands down by the mid ribs forehead down so again tapping into the upper back inhale lift curl open shoulder blades press forward outer arms come in exhale forehead down inhale lift up so allowing your breath to initiate the movement feel the outer arms draw and feel the spin in her upper arms forward exhale inhale press through the palms maybe lifting up a little higher sides of the neck back of the neck long exhale good this time option of coming up into urdvamukasmanasana upward facing dog curl the toes under lift the hips slide forward and then shift the shoulders back thighs are off the floor press through the feet anchor in as if you're sliding and swinging your heart forward through the arms right any congestion in the low back stop good bring your attention to your legs slide them towards each other just lightly inner thighs up outer thighs roll down just a bit good exhale slowly lower down take a moment for head down bring the arms out to your sides good tense your fingertips bring them out and then on an inhale lift the left leg reach it back and then set it down lift the right leg reach it back and set it down just to create again finding any way that we can to tap in to lengthen on an inhale we're gonna lift just the arms good start to turn the palms towards each other as if you've got this giant brick you're pressing and so you can roll the shoulder heads up sides of the neck long I inhale take the legs up right so you can keep the feet about a foot distance apart here right traditionally in this pose you can bring the feet together but here we're working into dhanurasana where the feet will be about hip distance apart good exhale release take a moment for head down come in one more so on an inhale take the arms up lift the chest lift the legs good sometimes I like to bring my hands down just to create a little bit of opening find a little bit of length and height good feel the shoulders roll back shoulder blades draw down the back and then the shoulder blades slide a little bit forward good exhale release taking the left arm out to the side we're gonna go straight out you're gonna bend the right knee slide on to your left side maybe the right foot can touch the floor maybe flat on the floor right so here we're getting a little deeper into the left shoulder joint and I just want you to let your head get heavy any pain any sharp red hot pain in this come out we're looking just to ease and just to open up you can use your right hand to press and roll a little bit nice unwinding on to the belly right side comes out tent the left fingers bend the left knee roll it on to the right and pause and let the right ear drop towards the floor and just soften the eyes and again just listening to your body this is too much back off one more breath let's slowly roll on to the belly back into Shalom Basana if it's available to interlace the hands at the sacrum we're gonna move in there if not grab a strap towel tie something that you can hook on to that on an inhale start to lift the head interlace the hands this at the sacrum and then draw the fist down let that action lift the chest lift the legs Shalom Basana variation little micro-bend through the elbows so here play with the inner thighs rolling up and then outer thighs still rolling down equal opposite action good exhale release bring the forearms to the floor sphinx pose so lining up number 11 with the arms elbows under shoulders and then drag your upper body through your arms just pause here right so in this pose I can feel a spaciousness being created here I can feel myself start to tap into my upper back if the shoulders want to come forward see if you can peel them back gently good on the exhale relax bring the forehead down just give a little shake out of your tail come on back up into sphinx pose from here take your right hand you're gonna take it diagonal towards the left wrist as if it's kind of like a modified sphinx pose so forearm down and then swoop the heart forward notice what's gonna tend to happen is we're gonna want to drop in see if you can lift up and out and then draw the right leg into the midline left knee bends from here reach back this might be right where you're at for some you can start to draw the heel in and for some you can turn the fingertips to face forward chest left shoulder rolls forward and then we're pressing the heel down inner thighs are drawing in towards each other are to be Casana so half frog pose again pay attention the right shoulder tends to want a whole sink lift up expand right so here we're tapping into our left quadricep a little bit into our hip flexor which when we get into full pose will make sense one more breath chest reaches forward and slowly release right forearm come straight line up again with the arms and then left fingertips come to right inner thighs line up bend the right knee reach back again find the place that's appropriate for you it might be right here it might be drawing in for some you can take fingertips to face forward right shoulder back so press lift and pause so even here we can start to work on lengthening through the back of the neck it's still lengthen all four sides the sides of our torso exhale release this time coming into arta dhanurasana so one leg I like to do this with my palm on the floor so you can press up a little higher so bring your hands by your mid ribs bend your right knee reach back thumb down flex the foot so as we flex the foot we're gonna press the energy out the heel and when we move into full pose your choice of pointing or flexing so as you press through the right hand is gonna start sliding in a little bit so a little like two inches one inch inside the right shoulder on an inhale you're gonna lift up like a low cobra and then press and kick back so here you can start to feel pubic bones pressing into the earth it's a little easier to get into the upper spine at this point because I can use the press my right hand and again any congestion crunching in the low back back off think more height more length than height exhale release I like this one bring the left hand down bend the right knee again drawing it in so it's kind of under the shoulder and in a little bit so it's stable right hand reaches back start to press up like a low cobra first so you're engaging the low back muscles and as you press kick so it's this kick that's creating the energy to lift and pause it's still kicking legs are active shoulder blades come in a little bit towards each other and then forward towards the front of your body right so we're opening up through the heart belly is getting a nice big stretch exhale release ah we're head down give it a little shake out so reach for your strap and you're gonna take two ends of your strap and wrap them around your shin so just above your feet of your ankles so it's a little tricky to get into you want to bend the knees and have it kind of hook I'll get it back to your belly let's see if I can get it this time there we go okay so take the extra just out to the side then it flex the feet so it stays there so as in the last one we did the art of a half dhanurasana half bow pose really teaching us that lift and length and the kicking back right so this is active where legs are strong they're kicking and that's what's gonna give that bigger stretch through the front body okay so as you reach back grab both straps just take them thumbs down and it might be this close it might be further away so in this pose we're not going feet towards the head I'm kicking as far away as I can so I want you to pause right here kicking lifting so it's a little different in this pose than when we move into full poses my feet are squeezing together right whereas they'll be a little bit further apart feeling the stretch to the shoulders great and then relax unwind untangle so this next one it's a little tricky to get into it's kind of fun a little trickier than the last one we're gonna take the strap put a loop in it about shoulder distance if your shoulders are tight shoulder distance if they're a little open you can go a little more narrow you're gonna take it behind your back above the elbows and try to keep the loop the metal piece or plastic piece off of your skin okay so now the fun part is how to get onto the floor take the tail out to the side wobble on down and you might belly flop a little bit that's okay you're on the belly so now you have this strap holding your arms in place right for some of us it's hard to get into that shoulder joint so you're gonna flex the feet bend the knees bring the forehead down reach back and if you need to you grab one at a time if you can reach back for both good flex through the feet what an inhale start to peel up the chest kick and lift up right so I like to teach keeping the gaze neutral to protect the back to protect the neck and you can start to play a little bit here with your breath your inhales to lift feel light your exhales kind of let you roll forward just a few more breaths exhale release good and then slowly rolling onto the side taking one arm out at a time just slide your strap off to the side we're gonna come into full pose so setting up I like to feel my hip bones on the floor bend the knees bring the forehead down flex the feet and again on an inhale start to lift up maybe into a little Cobra just find that space and then reach back toes can point or feet can flex on an inhale lift exhale kick back and you can play with this starting to point through the feet flex taking full back body breaths here right so we tend to breathe in our front body here see if you can really expand through the rib cage in the back and so action in the legs a little micro spin through the elbows and then exhale release good one more option I'm gonna go grab a rolled up mat but you can grab you can use your mat rolled up you can use a blanket you can use a bolster a mat would be best because it's a little firmer and voila I've grabbed my mat so you're gonna come up to your knees just for a moment bring the mat right above your hips so it's gonna be on your belly so if you have any digestive discomfort right now this might either one feel really great to get things moving or it might be a little too much so go in easy line it up just above your hips and then I want you to lay flat on it you can take your hands across forehead can be on the palm and just pause there for a moment so you feel it you can kind of wail in because sometimes the hips and ribs kind of get in there so we're gonna move into another floor bow into a bow pose down your asana bending the knees so you'll notice right away use your hands to lift up as if you're starting to go into almost an upward-facing dog and you might want to stay right here you might say okay that's plenty I've had it you can reach back grabbing again either top to the feet or below the ankles and then kick back so this gives like that extra support to lift up to be able to tap into the upper back right because so often we get in this pose and we get stuck in our low back and it's hard to get up and breathe so hanging out here it's starting to feel a little draw the inner thighs in and keep kicking keep pressing so your thighs are pressing on the floor good two more breaths nice exhale release just take a moment hands down forehead down and as you sit up slide the mat away if you enjoy that take a few more just slide the mat back if you rolled up your mat you can go ahead and roll it back out come on to your back nice and easy so going so deeply in sometimes creates again you come out and you're like I just need a counter pose twists are lovely counter poses to back meds so take your arms out wide bring the knees in on an exhale let the knees drop off to the left and just gaze off to the right and feel free to close the eyes so they come back up to center with the knees drop off to the right gaze to the left you can even bring your right hand to the top of the thigh slowly bring the right arm up then come on up to a comfortable seat if you still feel like I need more that was a lot of backbends feel free to stay down and do a few more twists so just touching and reviewing a little bit on Dhanurasana bow pose it's big wide open through the chest finding the rotation of the arms so the shoulders can still slide back shoulder blades start to draw down and then forward and the legs are strong and active the glutes the bum is minorly working right they're holding stability so it's not super tight but it's not completely relaxed either thank you for playing bow pose Dhanurasana with me namaste