Standing Anahatasana

Key Actions: Surya Pada - Mula Bandha - Uddiyana Bandha - Cobra Chest

Apana: Place feet hip width apart. Press down through the four corners of your feet to activate Pada Bandha, draw the tailbone down to the earth, soften the glutes. Place palms on your low back to support the sacrum (fingers point up or use your fists) and draw your shoulder blades down your back.

Samana: Gathering in through the inner thighs activates Mula Bandha and in turn gives rise to Uddiyana Bandha engaging in and up towards the spine. Hug the low ribs in and draw the elbows in towards one another.

Prana: Open and lift the sternum to the sky, from the pubic bone to the heart create a cobra action through the chest.

Vyana: Press forward through the hips and find length through the three channels of the spine (pubic bone to crown, and tops of the hips to the armpits), find length across the collar bones, and radiate energy out through your fingers and toes.

Udana: Feel the stabilizing energy rise up through the legs, quadriceps rise up femurs pressing the thighs back and drawing the tailbone down. Lengthen through the back of the neck as the skull reaches up and out.