Wheel Pose (Chakrasana), also known as Upward Facing Bow Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana), is a great backbend which opens up the chest and lungs.
Wheel Pose is intimidating to some, as it can one of the more challenging backbends. But, there are so many benefits of the pose, that the challenge is well worth the work.
Wheel Pose is really a total body engagement. It stretches your chest and spine, hips and abs, and all the way down to your calves. Additionally, it help strengthen your spine, quads, shoulders, wrists, and abs.
As the Sanskrit name implies - Chakrasana - this pose energizes all of the seven Chakras. The wheel shape of Chakrasana aligns the seven Chakras and allows them all to open, which makes this pose not only physically challenging, but also emotionally challenging.
When adding Chakrasana to your practice, here are some tips:
Press down evenly through your arms and legs - your weight should be equally distributed, instead of dumping into your shoulders
Keep your feet parallel to each other
Your knees should remain in the same direction as your toes
Broaden across your shoulder blades and open your chest
Elbows should not splay outward, but instead be in line with your legs
The degree of flexibility of your hip flexors will impact how much a of a "U" shape you are able to obtain. Some great poses to utilize for increasing hip flexor flexibility would be Dancer, Pigeon, Wide Legged Forward Fold (Seated or Standing), and Bound Angle pose.
As with all things yoga, "perfecting" the pose isn't the full goal - there is no such thing as a perfect yoga pose - but instead to overcome emotional roadblocks, understand why we feel the way we feel, and to simply challenge ourselves to grow (this can be mentally, physically, or both).
-Charlene
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