You enjoy yoga just as much as I do? Are you doing it regularly too? As a regular yogi, you probably already have your favorite poses that offer your the best relief and that build strength and muscles. However, the latter ones can be pretty challenging and difficult to master at the beginning.
Although I am not a beginner of Yoga, the pose I’m still working on doing correctly each time is Chaturanga. What do you think about this pose? It’s part of the sun salutation, so I’m doing it quite often, however, it’s also one of the poses that can cause serious injuries in your shoulder, neck, chest, arms, or even core.
So let’s see how we do it right and most importantly: SAFE 🙂
1. Your arms need to be in a right angle and your elbows should be over your wrist: tough on our arms but sooo effective when it comes to building muscle in our triceps and shoulders.
2. Heels and heart go forward: this is tough and something I’m struggling with. It’s hard for me to really let my body move forward when I transition from Chaturanga into upward facing dog.
3. Don’t let your shoulders round: Ha, easier said than done! I’m big in pulling my shoulders up whenever I can. Pulling my shoulder blades back is something I have to remind myself of a lot during practice. Or let’s say heart openers in general are a little challenging for me, but this is related to”inner work” that everyone has to figure out in their own pace.
4. Get your head right: literally! 🙂 When we transition back from Plank to Chaturanga, we seriously NEED TO be careful and mindful of our neck. The trick is to keep your gaze only a couple inches forward to your fingertips. When you’ve mastered that, then you are ready to reach up to an upward facing dog. [picture and text source: Chaturanga Tips]
Stay yogilated 🙂
