It is an opportunity to practice a long and peaceful exhale.

If you stay within your boundaries then you should experience very little effort in the abdominal area – which also relaxes and softens. Try to avoid overlapping the legs by placing one over the other or by letting them open to the sides.Īpanasana is a gentle practice. Try to keep the legs parallel and if possible close together. Gripping also creates a tempting opportunity to pull the knees closer to the chest – which is an excessive tendency. This invites tension in the fingers and that tension tends to quickly radiate up the arms and shoulders. Gripping tends to occur when the hands are placed too far down the leg, as if holding the knee.

There should be no tension in the joints of the fingers – there is no need for gripping. Make sure your hands are placed very lightly at the end of the thigh, just above the knee. Since the head and torso are supported by the ground and fairly static, most of the work is in the legs and arms. Some possible focuses for this practice are soft, long, refine & center. That’s all there is to getting started with this posture. Lengthen the neck and use Ujjayi breathing to create space and attention. As you inhale let the knees move away from the chest (up to a 90 degree angle between your torso and thighs), as you exhale let them come back towards the chest. If you love yoga, but don't know your rectus femoris from your rhomboideus, here's a new book for you. Lying down on your back, bend your knees and bring them over your chest, placing a hand just above each knee. Knees-to-Chest Pose (Apanasana) is a simple yoga posture that relieves tension and pressure in the digestive system and back. If you have very little time to practice – this is a great posture to do.

Apanasana yoga journal