HEALTH A yoga pose for joint and back pain

Stretch in the day


Lee Kennedy

Yoga asanas (poses) are based on simple principles of stretching, bending, rotating, and relaxing. The approach is holistic, aimed at purifying and strengthening each organ, bone, and cell of the body. Regular practice of the yoga asanas can make your body supple, bringing alertness to your mind, soothing nerves and glands, relaxing your brain, and maintaining a physical, physiological, and emotional balance.
The following basic asana, tadasana (mountain pose with fingers interlocked) can relieve arthritis, reduce sciatic pain, and stretch out the shoulders, arms, wrists and fingers – great if you spend a lot of time in front of a computer or typing. It can even helps correct flat feet (fallen arches). It’s also great for firming up the muscles of the stomach, buttox and back.

Tadasana
Mountain pose
During this pose, focus on achieving an intense stretch throughout your whole body, from your feet to your interlocked fingers. Feel the energy flow upward from your feet to your knuckles.

• Stand in your bare feet, feet together, heels touching a clear wall space
• Stretch your arms along your sides, palms facing your thighs, fingers pointing the floor
• Stretch your neck upwards, keeping the muscles soft and passive
• Tighten your kneecaps, open the back of the knees
• Turn in the front of your thighs, tighten your buttocks
• Pull in your lower abdomen and lift the chest
• Interlock the fingers firmly, palms facing the chest
• Turn the interlock palms inside out
• Exhale, stretch arms out in front of shoulders
• Inhale, stretch arms perpendicular to the floor
• Hold pose 30-60 secs

If you have a problem with balance keep your knees eight inches apart. If you have a slipped disc or prolapsed uterus, keep tips of big toes together and heels apart. It’s best to avoid this pose if you have cardiac conditions, migraine, low blood pressure.

Lee Kennedy qualified with The BKS Iyengar Yoga Association UK, the YTTC and Ana Forrest of Forrest Yoga. She specialises in pregnancy-related yoga and also studied with Janet Balaskas, founder of the Active Birth Foundation, UK. Visit yogadara.com or call 0863906343 for more information.

This article is not a recommendation for your own practice but serves as interesting reading  for anyone thinking of going to a yoga class. As with any form of physical exercise, please consult your family doctor beforehand.