Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) is one among yoga’s maximum flexible poses. Once I studied with B.Okay.S. Iyengar in India, permutations of Bridge Pose had been a go-to. For the ones people who by chance ingested parasites, Supported Bridge Pose was once healing. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana ready our again, shoulders and quads for Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) and Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose). By itself, Bridge Pose expands the entrance frame whilst it strengthens again muscle groups. Practising with a Yoga Sandbag ups the ante, offering resistance to problem the again muscle groups even additional.

“Bridging” could also be a staple of core paintings in energy coaching. As with yoga, there are many permutations. You’ll observe it with ft at the floor or on an workout ball. Or you’ll be able to observe lifting into Bridge on one leg—on or off an workout ball. And you’ll be able to upload barbells or weighted bars. I’ve practiced these types of permutations, and I choose the steadiness and flexibility of a Yoga Sandbag to conventional weights.

There are a pair causes that Yoga Sandbags paintings smartly on this capability. First, they mould for your frame, so they generally tend to stick put in your hip joints. You don’t have to carry them in position such as you do with conventional weights. 2nd, you’ll be able to upload or subtract sand to search out the very best weight on your observe. As my again has gotten more potent, I now use a 10-pound sandbag on every thigh for a complete of 20 kilos. However I’d suggest beginning by means of the use of a unmarried sandbag as pictured above.

The best way to Follow Bridge Pose with a Yoga Sandbag

1. Acquire your props: Yoga Mat, Yoga Sandbag and a Yoga Strap. It’s possible you’ll or would possibly not need to use a strap, however have one shut by means of, simply in case.
2. Knees have a tendency to splay out to the edges in Bridge Pose, so you could need to observe with a Yoga Strap. Hanging a Yoga Strap round your thighs let you stay your thighs parallel.
3. Lie in your again in your mat along with your knees bent and the soles of your ft at the flooring.
4. Position the Yoga Sandbag in your hip joints, the crease the place the thighs meet your pelvis.
5. Position your fingers shut in for your aspects and bend your elbows in order that your forearms are vertical.
6. Press your elbows into the ground and arch your lumbar backbone clear of the ground.
7. Lengthen your fingers along your frame.
8. Lengthen your knees out, away out of your pelvis, as should you’re lengthening your quads. This may increasingly start up the raise of your backbone off the ground.
9. Now raise your hips up towards the sky, adjusting the sandbag if vital in order that it remains in your hip joints.
10. Clasp your fingers beneath you, or hang a strap between your fingers in order that your fingers are parallel.
11. Flooring your fingers and shoulders to lend a hand make bigger your chest, and proceed to stretch the knees out clear of the pelvis.
12. Grasp for five to ten deep breaths.
13. Free up the pose and go back to mendacity in your again along with your knees bent. Repeat as time and again as you favor.
14. Another choice: Be at liberty to observe repetitions, lifting into Bridge Pose at the exhalation, breathing in within the pose, and exhaling as you decrease down. Follow 10 to twenty repetitions, staying within the pose for only one inhalation.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell found out yoga in 1982 and started instructing in 1986. Charlotte is the creator of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Lifestyles: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each printed by means of Rodmell Press. Her 3rd guide is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Protective the Hips and Averting SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a per 30 days column for CATALYST Mag and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Crimson Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards in 2010.