Step by step
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees bent.
- Fold forward allowing your spine to round.
- Clasp your elbows with opposite hands.
- Hold for 1 to 2 minutes, eventually up to 5 minutes.
- You are looking for sensations along the spine, all the way down to the neck and maybe a gentle stretch in the hamstrings.
- To come out of the pose, ground through your feet, bend your knees even deeper and slowly roll up vertebra by vertebra, head comes up last.
Beginners’ tips
- Bend your knees a lot – resting your forearms on top of the thighs, if you like – and hold for 1 minute to start with.
Benefits
- Increases the flexibility of the hamstrings.
- Decompresses the spine.
- Massages the organs of digestion through gentle compression.
- Stimulates the Urinary Bladder meridian.
Watch out for
- Avoid in case of high blood pressure or glaucoma.
- In case of low blood pressure, lower down into squat instead of rolling up, to come out of the pose.
- In case of back issues, bend your knees even deeper, rest your forearms on the thighs and keep your spine straight.
Variations
- Depending on how deeply you bend the knees, you might feel sensations in different parts of your spine. If your hamstrings allow it, try slowly bringing your legs towards straight.
- Place your feet a comfortable distance away from a wall and allow your hips to rest against the wall.
- To deepen your sensations, lean with your back against a wall, stepping the top of your feet on a folded blanket.
- If you want to hold the pose for longer than 2 minutes, do multiple sessions, resting in squat for a minute in between, to start with.
Alternative poses
Counter pose