Pose of the week - Camel (Ustrasana) - A yummy stretch for the belly after core work

I picked camel pose as the pose of this week, as I will be focusing on core work this week during my own personal practice as well as in class...the one thing I love after practicing core work is a nice belly stretch...so Camel is a great counter pose to core work.

When I first started practicing yoga this pose, camel pose or as known in sanskrit, ustrasana, was challenging for me. I always found it very difficult to breathe in the pose. I would go into it with a bit of fear of the unknown of what is behind me, how far of a back bend is it going to be, will I fall backwards and hurt myself...and then I would 'throw' my neck way back, which didn't help me to breathe and was very uncomfortable. I was trying to come into the fullest expression of the pose as shown above...but over time I've realized the pose is not as frightening when you work into it in stages....below are some tips:

Tips to do this pose for all levels:

* Have the knees hip width apart or slightly wider. Push the pelvis forward.

* Engage the core!! - Pull the navel both up and back to reduce the strain on the discs in the lower back.

* Bring your hips forward so that they are over your knees. You can try this up against a wall too, and your front thighs ideally should continue to touch the wall as you take the back bend.



Photo credit: OneCenterYoga.com


* Instead of reaching for your heels/feet, practice this pose with your hands on your lower back for some time before experimenting with touching your feet. This helps to build confidence in addition to strength and stamina.

* Curl your back toes under (great toe stretch), this will give you an extra few inches to reach around and grab your heel. You could do one arm at a time also.

* Using a chair can also be helpful

Photo credit: Sciatica.org

* Blocks are a great tool too - place them on the outside of your feet

* After practicing camel pose, make your way to a child's pose as a counter stretch and enjoy the sensations of a back bend

Benefits:

• Improves spinal flexibility. Creates compression of the spine, which stimulates the nervous system
• Improves flexibility of the neck and spine, relieves backache, and helps degenerative spinal problems
• Stretches the abdomen, helps constipation
• Stretches the throat and thyroid and parathyroid glands
• Stretches entire front of the body, including chest, abdomen, and quadriceps.

Read more on yoga journal.