Every month I will demonstrate a yoga asana (pose) in hopes that you will join me from your home, work, or where ever you are in the moment.  With each asana I will list several benefits and tips for integrating the pose into your yoga practice and daily life.  My intent it to make yoga accessible to everyone, to help you get more from my podcasts (for you visual learners), and to share a little stress relief for free! Enjoy.

This month’s asana is Crescent Pose or Anjaneyasana in Sanskrit.

Enjoy the sounds of Garden Creek and the birds!

Benefits:

• Improves balance
• Strengthens glute, quadriceps and knee stabilizer muscles
• Stretches hip flexors
• Strengthens spine, shoulder, and upper back muscles
• Builds stamina & endurance in thigh and core muscles
• Stimulates abdominal organs and digestion
• Improves balance and concentration
• Cultivates a sense of groundedness

Contraindications and Caution:

• Medical conditions affecting balance
• Tendonitis or bursitis in the shoulders – as the arms are raised, keep hands open and arms parallel to avoid compression into the shoulder joint
• Neck problems-maintain eyes forward and chin parallel to the ground

Tips:

• If you have difficulty balancing  decrease the distance between your feet several inches.  Keep the knee over the heel and not over the toes.
• For more of a challenge, move the left heel back several inches and bring the right thigh parallel with the floor. Keep the right knee over the heel and keep the tailbone reaching lightly under.