Type of Pose
: Forward Bend
Benefits: Stretches the shoulders, spine, and hamstrings

Instructions:

1. From staff pose - danadasana, bend your right knee and place the sole of your right foot close your your right buttock.

2. Keep the left leg extended and engaged with the foot flexed.

3. Hug your right knee towards your body as you reach the left arm straight up to the ceiling.

4. Drop the left arm behind your back as you wrap your right arm in front of your right shin.

5. Bind the hands together behind your back.

6. Sit up tall with a long, straight spine.

7. Begin to fold into a forward bend, keeping your hands bound and your spine long.

8. Come back to a perpendicular spine before releasing the bind and doing the other side.

Beginners: Use a strap if your hands won't bind. Don't rush into the forward bend- keep the integrity of your spine.

Advanced: Try deepening the bind by holding the left wrist with your right hand.