Yoga Abs by Judith Hanson Lasater

Author:Judith Hanson Lasater
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodmell Press
Published: 2010-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

ASANA

Downward Facing-Dog Pose to Upward-Facing Dog Pose ADHO MUKHA SVANASANA TO URDHVA MUKHA SVANASANA

TO USE THE ABDOMINALS AS STABILIZERS WHILE MOVING

CAUTION: Avoid this pose during the last two trimesters of pregnancy.

PROP: 1 nonskid mat

Another method of strengthening your abdominals involves the way you move from one asana to another. In this asana, you will practice moving from Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) to Upward-Facing Dog Pose (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana).

Kneel on all fours on a mat. Place your hands so that your middle fingers face forward, your fingers firmly press down, and your knees are a little wider than hip-width apart. Exhale, and as you do so, contract your abdominals toward your spine. With the next exhalation, begin to lift, straightening your knees. Inhale, drop your abdomen, and arch your back. With this openness in your belly, descend your heels toward the floor (Figure 15A).

Stay in Downward-Facing Dog Pose for several breaths, stretching back and up from your hands toward your pelvis. To come into the opposite position, that is, Upward-Facing Dog Pose, inhale, and with an exhalation, lean forward and swoop forward over your hands while you lift your chest, dropping your pelvis down and straightening your legs without touching the floor (Figure 15B). Rest on your toes: do not move to the tops of your feet. Broaden your shoulders, lift your breastbone, drop your shoulder blades, and keep your breath even for 3 or 4 breaths. The curve that your body creates is even and gentle, from the top of your head to your heels. Be careful not to drop at the pelvis or lower back area. Keep breathing.

Abdominal strengthening happens as you transition from Up Dog into Down Dog. Inhale, and roll inward from the sides of your waist to create a hollowed belly and then lift up and back into Down Dog. Make sure that you round your lower back as you do so. Many students do not: in fact, they do the opposite, which is to keep the lower back arched, as if in a backbend. Not only can this arched position be potentially stressful for the lower back, but it also makes the arms work harder than necessary to create the movement.

FIGURE 15A DOWNWARD-FACING DOG POSE

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