Flow Poses

Standing Side Bend     
Standing tall in Mountain Pose (Tadasana), sweep one arm up toward the sky.  Support the opposite hand on the hip to protect the back, or reaching it toward the earth to feel more of a stretch through the waist, ribs, and side of the back.  Sink the heels toward the earth and the hand toward the sky.  Breathe, feel and listen to how you are feeling.  Repeat on the other side.

Standing Back Bend    
Sweep both arms back as if you are holding a beach ball between your palms.  Feel your postural muscles working to hold the imaginary ball there.   Stay here if you’d like to focus on back strength.  If you’d like to add more chest-opening to this posture, maintain postural strength through the back and legs, as you take your fists to your sacral area (just above the gluteal muscles) for support.  Lift your heart center toward the sky, as you ground through your legs and feet.

Warrior 2
Stepping back with your left foot, your back heel the furthest distance away from your body, and aligning heels down the centerline of your mat.  Feeling a strong and balanced foundation through your feet and legs, bend the right knee.  Keeping the front knee directly over the front ankle, turn the hips and shoulders to face the side of the mat.  Arms reach forward and back, feeling the strength of the upper back.  Shoulders relax down away from the ears, ribs aligned directly over the hips.

Reverse Warrior   
From Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II), turning the right palm up, reach hand forward and then up toward the sky.  Maintaining a strong foundation through the legs and feet, feel the opening in the side of the body.  This pose is a blend of Standing Side Bend (upper body) and Warrior 2 (lower body).  Stretching the side of the body creates flexibility in our intercostal muscles – the muscles of respiration between our ribs – helping us to breathe more completely and fully.