Matsyasana

Hi, we're here with Betsy and Alana, and we're going to work briefly with Fish Pose, Matsyasana, which is commonly used, usually used as a counter-pose to shoulder stand to help release the neck after having done the Sarmagasana Pose. So I'll ask Betsy to lie down on her back, she's going to turn around to do that. And I'll ask Alana, we have a block placed on the floor behind Alana to support her head as the less experienced student, I'd prefer to have her head a little bit off the floor. So she'll lie back, but her head will be on the block rather than the floor. Now I'd like to both bring their forearms alongside their torso and push down with the forearms and lift the chest all the way up toward the ceiling.

And as you can see, Betsy is going to drop her head back down onto the floor like this. And it's okay to keep the knees bent if you prefer, that helps to release the back a little bit. Whatever you like, you can stretch the legs out one at a time with an inhalation each time, pressing through the heels and the bases of the big toes, internally rotating the thighs as we did earlier in this sequence. And then pressing the legs down very firmly into the floor, no floppy legs in this exercise. Thighs heavy, feet turned in, forearms pressing down, chest puffing up toward the ceiling, head dropped back, Betsy's on the floor with her head, Alana's on a little bit of support.

You can also use the blankets that you use for shoulder stand as a support if you prefer. To come out, very simple, just take an exhalation, release the torso down onto the floor, bend the knees, and you can roll over to the side with an exhalation. And as always, push yourself lightly away from the floor with another exhale, as always trailing the torso to come up. And then you can sit. And that is Matsyasna, which may not look much like a fish to you, but what I'm told is that if you do this pose in water, you can try this on your own, this pose will help you float in water like a fish.

Matsyasna, the fish pose. Thank you very much.