(Bharadvaja’s pose)
The sage Bharadvaja is known for an insatiable desire to learn
This open twist’s many benefits include:
- helps the back become more supple by working the lumbar, thoracic and cervical regions of the spine
- energizes the kidneys and massages abdominal organs
- brings suppleness to the shoulders, hips, knees, feet and ankles
Instructions
Props: sit on a blanket, block or a chair
- Begin with legs extended in dandasana
- Bend your knees and swing your feet to the left; point your knees forward
- Rest your left ankle or shin on top of your right arch (criss-cross)
- Place a blanket under your right sit bone to levelize your pelvis.
- Reach your right hand behind your sacrum, fingers on the floor or a block
- Place your left hand on your right outer thigh near the knee
- Inhale and lift your ribs.
- With each exhale turn to the right. Begin at your low belly and slowly turn higher up with each exhale- the mid ribs, then the chest. Finish the twist by looking over your right shoulder.
- To exit: inhale lift the ribs, and exhale untwist (maintaining the lift of the ribs), return to dandasana, then repeat on the other side
