Step by step
- From all fours, knees a little wider than hip-distance apart, lower down onto your elbows
- Keep your hips in line with your knees, straighten your arms in front of you, one after the other.
- Place your chin or forehead on the floor, allowing yourself to soften in the pose.
- If you feel a pressure on the top of your shoulders, bend your elbows, spread them to the sides and place your forehead on your hands.
- You are looking for opening sensations in the front body (chest, ribs, front of the shoulders, maybe even the belly) and a mild compression in the upper and middle back.
- Hold for 3 to 5 minutes.
- To come out of the pose, gently bring your hands towards your shoulders and lower your hips on your heels, coming into a comfortable Child’s Pose variation.
Beginners’ tips
- Use a blanket to pad your knees and a bolster to support your chest.
Benefits
- Counteracts the rounding of the spine.
- Increases shoulder mobility.
- Stimulates the Urinary Bladder meridian through compression of the spine.
- Stimulates the Stomach and Spleen meridians in the chest.
- Stimulates the Lung and Heart meridians if the arms are extended.
Watch out for
- Avoid tingling sensations in the arms while extended. Try spreading them wider, bend the elbows and rest your forehead on your hands or extend one arm at a time, and switch half way through.
Variations
- Place the short-end side of your mat a few centimetres away from the wall. Sit on your heels, and place your hands on the wall a comfortable distance apart. Allow your chest to dip down, head resting against the wall or gently hanging
- Try holding a block between the heels of your hands. This variation encourages a small amount of muscular engagement, and should not be held longer than 1 minute. However, it will offer you sensations in the armpit area.
Alternative poses
Counter pose