B
addha Konasana
Bound angle posture
by Jennifer French
baddha= bound
kona= angle
asana = posture
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Sit on a blanket with your legs stretched out in front of you and your spine long. Bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the ground.
2. Splay your knees open and bring the soles of your feet together. Hold either your shins or ankles. Press the little toe sides of your feet together. Lengthen up through your spine and draw your navel softly in and up.
3. Let your shoulders relax and your shoulder blades glide down your back. Keep your breast bone lifted and your chest broad.
4. Feel your inner thighs stretching from the groin to the knee, allowing your knees to gently release towards the ground. Stay for several slow even breaths.
TIPS:
1. Often people use their elbows to force the knees down. This can cause one to collapse in the chest, lose the lift of the spine, and strain the inner knee.
2. Keep your arms close to your body and use the pressure of the feet against each other to find length in the inner thighs. Let the posture come naturally as opposed to forcing your body into it.
BENEFITS:
Stretches adductors (inner thighs); strengthens pelvic floor, bladder and uterus; tones kidneys; increases circulation to abdomen and pelvis; helps to ease menstrual and some premenopausal symptoms.