Yoga
Plank Pose
Sanskrit Name: Uttihita Chaturanga Dandasana
Good for: Ankle or low back injuries
Benefits
- Stretches hamstrings and hips
- Stretches adductors
- Reinforces back and arm muscles
- Enhances sense of balance
- Provides composure to the mind and enhances focus
Guidelines
- Keep the palms directly under the shoulders with arms straight and spreading the fingers wide, middle finger pointing forward
- Pressing down into the base of your fingers, weight evenly distributed across the hands
- Straighten your legs with toes tucked under and facing forward
- Imagine pushing back on a wall with your heels
- Pressing the heels back is very important in helping keep the spine and neck in line and your bottom flat down
- Keep your body in one straight line, abdomen, legs and bottom engaged, without any sagging or arching
- Keep the core engaged and keep your belly button lifting to the sky
- Firm the shoulder blades to the back and spread them away from the spine
- Make sure your shoulder blades aren’t slouching forward
- Keep a lot of space between your chest and the ground
- Keep your “Gaze” forward and down.
Remember to thoroughly breathe. Your breath is your energy throughout this pose!
Good to know
- To help support the arms in this pose, ring and secure a strip everywhere your upper arms, just above the elbows
- Push inner arms against this strip
- Release the outer arms from the shoulders to the floor
- Lift the inner arms from the roots of the index fingers to the shoulders
By : Natural Health News