Many posture problems are caused by the hours spent each day hunched over a computer terminal at work or driving a car. These yoga poses will help alleviate those problems:
Mountain Pose – Tadasana
Type of pose: Standing
Benefits: Improves posture, strengthens thighs, can help relieve back pain.
The good news is that yoga poses can help counteract your tendency to slouch as well as increase body awareness, improving your posture. You can improve your mental attitude and posture and learn to stand and sit up tall using your back muscles in a comfortable and relaxed way. You’ll also ease back and neck pain and feel more alert, which helps to increase mental focus and productivity.
To correct posture with yoga, first emphasize poses that help realign the spine and promote healthy postural habits. You should work on keeping your head aligned with the rest of your body. Standing poses such as the Mountain Pose can help you become more aware of postural alignment.
Instructions:
1. Come to stand with the big toes touching.
2. Lift up all your toes and let them fan out, then drop them down creating a wide solid base. You can separate your heels slightly if your ankles are knocking together uncomfortably.
3. Bring your weight evenly onto all four corners of both feet.
4. Let the feet and the calves root down into the floor.
5. Engage the quadriceps and draw them upward, causing your knee caps to rise.
6. Rotate both thighs inward, creating a widening of the sit bones, and tuck your tailbone in between the sit bones.
7. Tone the belly, drawing it in slightly.
8. Widen the collar bones and make sure the shoulders are parallel to the pelvis.
9. The neck is long, the crown of the head rises toward the ceiling, and the shoulder blades slide down the back.
It may seem like you are just standing there, but bringing the body into alignment is hard work. The alignment for Tadasana carries in to many of the standing and inverted poses.
Beginners: Practice the pose with your back to the wall so you can feel the alignment. Take a block between the thighs. Squeeze the block and roll it slightly backward to feel the engagement and rotation of the thighs.
Here’s a taste of this week’s Yoga Flava TV Snack, “Mountain Pose”, and check in weekly for new episodes: Yoga Flava TV Snack On Elev8
Like this video and pictures in the gallery? In the New York tri-state are? Then join us for:
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