Ustrasana

Key Actions: Surya Pada - Mula Bandha - Uddiyana Bandha - Healthy Udana in the neck

Apana: Toes in Surya pada with the knees beneath the hips. Tailbone anchors down towards the earth and the glutes soften. Shoulders soften down the back.

Samana: Gathering in through the inner thighs activates Mula Bandha and in turn gives rise to Uddiyana Bandha. 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 and lengthen through the back of the neck as the skull reaches up and out. Quadriceps rise up femurs pressing the thighs back.