Grounding Poses with a Twist!

YOGA

Wringing the Winter Out to Make Way for Spring

Happy Spring, yogis! The colder weather is finally thawing out, and with all of the fresh colors emerging comes a sense of growth and renewal in our practice. Now’s the time to stretch out those muscles that have been bundled up these last few months, and start to let go of all that served us in the cold, but is now just starting to feel heavy!

For this sequence, we’ll be focusing on some traditional grounding poses for stabilization, then building our balance and flexibility by twisting things up a little! So go at your own pace, and use your exhales to safely deepen these twists. But always listen if you’re body tells you to back out a little! Progress comes with time and patience, so don’t force the flow.

The Prana: Deep, Mindful Breaths

Grounding starts internally by noticing and controlling your breath. Let each inhale and exhale start at the abdomen and work its way up. Filling and hollowing the lungs as much as possible, and using each breath to lengthen and deepen the asana.

The Practice:

Adho mukha svanasana

In your downward dog, feel your lower ribs “knitting in” as you exhale. Almost like you’re lacing up a tennis shoe! Feel your energy pulling toward your center, then feel the upper body pulling towards the legs.

Stabilize your twist by distributing your weight equally to your base hand, and both feet. Try to keep your hips as centered as possible as your floating hand reaches towards the opposite leg, mindfully pulling one shoulder to stack under the other. Look up past your armpit, if you can!

Virabhadrasana 1

In your Warrior 1, feel both hips and shoulders aligning with the front center of the mat. Ground through the pinky edge of your back foot just as much as you’re grounding through the front foot. Core stays active, and tailbone gently tucked!

For your twist, try to keep hips centered forward. Exhale to help your torso reach toward your front knee, as you reach one arm toward the opposite leg in the back. The other hand reaches up and over, further guiding the torso into the rotation!

Garudasana

Again in your Eagle balance, feel both sides of the body gravitate to the medial line, with each leg and arm weaving tightly around the other. Shoulders, hips, and base knee should face forward as much as they can!

For the twist, bring hands back to heart center, but keep that active medial energy. Protect the knee joint by keeping it centered. Begin to hover the upper body over the legs, then use your exhale to twist! Press your hands firmly into one another, and use your elbow as leverage against your knee to maintain the twist.

Uttanasana

Ease into your forward fold by keeping a bend in both knees, keeping the focus on bringing upper body to lower. “Lifting” your kneecaps by flexing the quadriceps will help release tension in the hamstrings, eventually helping to straighten the legs more.

Once again, focus on keeping the hips centered in your revolved fold. Keep your intention on stacking your shoulders by just twisting in the upper body. For an extra juicy IT band stretch, try bending one knee as you twist!

Malasana

In your Garland pose, sink your tailbone as close to the mat as you can while maintaining a straight spine. Press palms together firmly while using your triceps to help pull your knees further open.

This twist requires just as much hip strength as it does range of motion! While you keep one tricep connected to your leg, the other knee has to keep pulling away without the other arm’s assistance. Try to reach your floating arm as high as you can, then bring it around to the opposite leg’s hip crease, coming into a half bind.

The Parting Words:

As we enter into our season of growth, start to think about the intentions you have for yourself and your practice. Treat them like you would seeds in a garden; feed them in action, water them with mindfulness and meditation, and let them bathe in the sunlight of your positivity.

Namaste.

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Andréanne @yoga.andreanne