The deep benefit of stretching and opening - Part I. #yogasana

So many times we have made them and maybe we never stopped to think and understand how are we doing it and what are their benefits for our health, body and mind.

Yesterday it happened to me in my school to have prepared an intense class of series for advanced students, but as it usually happens in Yoga classes, how in life I say, everything changes and life surprises you, it is important to know how to adapt to those changes taking them as opportunities for one and for others. The advanced group could not attend and I had students from a lower level who came to recover so on the fly I decided to work the techniques that we would then apply to the asanas of the programmed series that of course I decided to suspend in that class and it was surprising and wonderful, how the class flowed and the students and the teacher (ME) enjoyed it very much!

I focused on Chaturanga and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, two positions that are always held in Surya Namascar (Greeting to the Sun).
Many times these positions are made without thinking or without connecting with them, with their benefits and with what they come to show us of our body, our physical and emotional rigidities or perhaps our mental openings! Why it has to be all negative always, right?

Well, going back to these beautiful asanas, their techniques for the correct armed and their benefits and contraindications ...

Urdhva Mukha, or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana is one of the elementary poses of yoga, and the one I will explain in this First post, usually practiced in an initial routine of hatha yoga and other paths of this practice. Due to its relative ease and its many benefits, it is ideal for beginner yoga students to gain confidence and knowledge of their own body, in turn to gain strength in arms, shoulders and spine, which they can then use for asanas of greater
complexity.

This pose, also known as the head-up dog, is preferred by the initial yoga students due to the ease of its practice, it does not represent major challenges or demands, and in turn, it is one of the most satisfying to the person who performs it. , managing to stretch and open different parts of the body such as the chest, heart and lungs.

More advanced yoga students also enjoy variants of Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, such as taking the eyes fully upwards, for further stretching of the neck and spine.

But will we be doing it right?

It is essential that during the armed we bring our conscience to our
arms and shoulder blades, the arms must be close to the body, the
hands very well supported and firm with the fingers well separated and stretched resting on the Mat or floor. Before the game you have to rotate the shoulders back and down and just after all these
adjustments begin to raise consciousness in the opening that occurs inthe chest as the shoulder blades continue to fall, stretching the
front torso from the support of the pubis towards the chin, to take
off even the pubis to continue stretching the front torso, curving our
back column along with the shoulders and making the neck long by
separating the shoulders of the ears. (important: attention on the arms that the stretch does not make us raise the shoulders to lock the elbows to be able to climb more. It is preferable to keep a little
flexed arms allowing the torso to stretch more to the position
collapse).

Benefits

• Open lungs and chest
• Stretches the upper back and the entire front of the body
• Achieves greater strength in wrists, shoulders, arms and throughout the spine
• Relieves sciatica pain
• Helps to relax the body and combat fatigue
• Counteracts bad posture
• Due to pulmonary opening, it can be very beneficial for people with asthma

Precautions

Being a simple asana, considered the elementary in yoga, the
performance of the dog looking up does not entail greater risks or
considerations to consider. Personally, I verify that my students do
not strain their neck when they do it and if they are students with
cervical rectification or chronic problems I indicate that they do not
wear their heads back and I do not recommend it to those who suffer
back pain.