Salabhasana

Picture from Bikramyoga.com

By Kate Tremblay

Salabhasana involves an active contraction of the back muscles to open the front body. This feels delicious when the back is strong and the front body is not overly restricted. Remind yourself that the primary purpose of backbends is to release tension along the front of the body, helping you feel more movement of breath and energy in those areas. As an active backbend, Salabhasana also offers the promise of strengthening muscles along the back of the body. In service of these intended benefits, try lifting your body only 50 percent as high as you comfortably can. Use the reserved energy and the mental space created to stay a few breaths longer than you might be able to if you were really pushing yourself. Then use the extra time to observe sensations and to maneuver within the pose.

To come into Salabhasana, lie facedown with your forehead on the floor and your arms alongside your body, palms down. Exhale and lengthen the lower back by drawing the belly gently toward the spine and pressing the pelvis and thighs toward the floor. Hold a subtle tension in the belly as you inhale and lift the chest and head. Exhale and again lengthen the lower back, drawing the belly gently toward the spine. Inhale, expanding the chest forward and at the same time pulling the apex of the arch from the lower back up to just behind your breastbone.

Stay in touch with your level of exertion and any signs of resistance in your lower back. Resistance doesn't necessarily mean you should stop what you're doing, but it is a reminder to slow down and pay attention to what is happening. Lower the chest a bit to slow down and observe. Find space to move within the pose, to work the chest forward on your inhalations and lengthen the back on your exhalations.

Once you've mastered the action, begin to experiment with deepening the backbend, taking care to honor your own comfort level. Is there enough ease in your lumbar spine (in the lower back) to offer it a little more arch? Ideally, you want the lumbar spine and the cervical spine (in the neck) to arch without overcompressing and without compromising your ability to open the front of the thoracic spine (in the middle and upper back).

If you've lifted the apex of the curve upward and your lower back feels fine, release a little of the abdominal contraction at the end of your next inhalation, letting the lower back move a little farther forward. Work to keep the apex of the curve drawing upward, and support the lifting heart from underneath by bringing the shoulder blades firmly against the rib cage. Mirror the action of your chest with the base of your skull, extending it upward on an inhalation so the neck comes to its full length. Then look forward and up with the chin still slightly tucked, as if you were arching up and back over a large ball. The entire spine should lengthen and open into a long graceful bend, with no single part receiving a disproportionate share of the backbend. This feels glorious. Savor it.

If you want to move more deeply into the pose, add your legs, lifting them and stretching back through the heels. Every time you move, take only 50 percent of what is possible. Know that as the body opens, you can take another 10 percent—and another, and another. If you are still comfortable and want a bit more chest opening, lift the arms off the floor too. Keep them by your side and turn the palms to face each other, or interlace your fingers behind your back and stretch the knuckles back toward the heels. Just be sure to keep some extra wiggle room for observing and responding—the ultimate yogic conversation between body, breath, and mind.

Whenever you take all that your body will give, the question of when to come out of the pose never emerges. You come out when your body gasps "uncle." By contrast, working as you are here, and as the Yoga Sutra advises—balancing sthira (steadiness) and sukha (ease)—there is room to observe cues that the quality of your effort is beginning to wane and it's time to rest. Do you have less control over the subtle actions of controlling depth and apex? Is your breath beginning to lose its smooth, easy rhythm? When your resistance to remaining in the pose overpowers the conversation of your body, it is time to come out. Lie down slowly, turning your head to one side and resting your arms alongside the torso, palms rolling up toward the ceiling. Listen to the echoes of the pose reverberating throughout your body. Enjoy the total release of effort and observe the new quality of your energy. After a while, push back into balasana (Child's Pose).

Low cobra

By Jason Crandell

You'll take a slightly deeper backbend with Low Cobra (photo right). From your belly, place your palms on the floor next to your chest, with fingertips in line with the front of your shoulders. Hug your elbows to your sides. Press your hands firmly into the floor and begin to lift your chest into a mild backbend. The muscles along your spine will begin to activate and support you. By engaging your spinal muscles this way, you'll begin to develop strength and suppleness in your back.

Keeping your elbows drawn into your sides, actively press your shoulder blades into your upper back. Now broaden and expand your chest, pulling your heart forward and up. Imagine your upper chest is a sail that has just caught a gust of wind. As you inhale, that sail rises, broadens, and floats with ease. Work your hands a little more firmly into the floor and allow this updraft to fill out your chest's natural contours with breath.

Without losing the height of your heart, draw your shoulders away from your ears. Instead of jamming your shoulders into your rising chest—which prevents the free, spacious movement of your heart—glide your shoulders down until your neck feels long and your arms stable and grounded. Continue to emphasize the length of your neck by lifting the base of your skull away from your shoulders. Keep your head perched over your heart rather than jutting your chin forward.

When you are ready to come down, slowly lower yourself to the floor, keeping your torso long. Observe your breath as it pulses through your entire body.

Sphinx Pose

By Jason Crandell

Begin with the infant of the baby backbends—Sphinx Pose (see photo right)—by lying on your belly. Inhale and place your elbows under your shoulders and your forearms on the floor. Exhale, and feel your torso in a mild backbend.

Keep your thighs parallel to each other, firm your muscles, and extend your legs so your toes move toward the wall behind you. Internally rotate your legs by rolling your outer thighs toward the floor. This helps maintain width in your sacrum (the downward-facing triangular bone at the base of your spine) and length in your lower back, keeping it safe from stress. Extend your legs firmly. Stay passive in your tongue, eyes, and mind as your legs wake up.

Next, find the correct placement of your pelvis by reaching your sacrum toward your heels. Be careful—if you're overzealous and clench your buttocks, you risk crunching your lower back.

The final step to building a solid foundation in Sphinx Pose is to bring awareness to your belly. Focus on your lower abdomen—the part just above the pubic bone and below the navel—and begin to draw your belly away from the floor to create a dome that lifts toward your lower back. This is very subtle—no sucking in, hardening, or rigidity required. This abdominal lift supports you and distributes the curvature of your backbend more evenly, soothing your lower back and awakening your upper back.

Stay for 5 to 10 breaths, then slowly lower your belly and chest to the floor. Turn your head to one side and feel your back broaden and release with each breath.

Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

By Jason Crandell

Imagine that you want to learn to play an instrument, say, the violin. When you sit down for your first lesson, do you start with the basic notes or a complex song? The answer, of course, is you start with the basics. If you launched into a complex song during those first couple of lesssons, you'd probably produce sounds more like a dying cat than a beautiful melody.

The same goes for yoga. If you approach your practice expecting to launch into a perfect backbend on the first try, you'll be disappointed when you discover you can't even lift your back off the floor.

Deep, complex backbends are visually dazzling—think of the rounded arch of Full Wheel or the strength and focus it takes to balance in Scorpion Pose. And you've probably read about their therapeutic benefits: they're energizing, they can help alleviate depression and back pain, they can even straighten out that unflattering slouch you may have developed from hours in front of a computer. With all that promise, you can easily be seduced into going all-out with this set of poses.

But if you push too hard or skip ahead to complex backbends without first learning the simple, foundational ones, you run the risk of crunching your lower back, depleting your energy, or even stirring up anxiety. In short, your backbends won't feel melodic or harmonious; they'll feel more like that screechy, dying cat.

Here's a way to radically rethink your backbends: Size doesn't matter. To reap the physical, energetic, and therapeutic effects of backbends, you don't have to create the deepest arch. Just think of creating a smooth, even arc in your spine. Rather than searching for intensity, search for evenness. You'll know you've found it when your lower, middle, and upper back all have the same degree of sensation.

Cobra Pose and its variations may seem like small movements—they're sometimes referred to as baby backbends—but they set the foundation for deeper backbends because they teach you how to work your legs, pelvis, and belly. When Cobra is done correctly, your legs provide the power and support for your spine to gracefully extend, and your pelvis and belly act together to decompress and support your lower back, which has a tendency to overarch. As you practice each variation of Cobra, be patient and curious. Observe how your spine feels and savor the sensations in your body.

The small vertebrae in the neck are easily injured. Should I be concerned about headstand?

By Tony Sanchez

The vertebrae in the neck are fragile. Although Sirsasana (Headstand) can be beneficial, you need to approach it with caution—preferably with an experienced teacher who can guide you to prevent injury. Women who are in any stage of osteoporosis can be especially vulnerable to injury in Headstand if they don't perform it correctly or don't have the necessary muscular strength.

If you aren't steady on your way into or out of Headstand, consider working toward it in stages. Your instructor can help assess your ability and guide you until you're ready to do it on your own. For additional instruction, take a look at Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, by H. David Coulter (Body and Breath, 2001).

Have someone spot you until you can move into, hold, and come out of the pose with control. If you're misaligned or your weight is poorly distributed, you'll not only have an imperfect Headstand, you'll also put excess strain on your upper body or overcompress or overstretch the vertebrae, ligaments, tendons, and muscles in the neck, which can lead to serious injury.

Keep your neck in alignment and distribute your weight evenly between your head, elbows, and forearms to prevent yourself from falling. Place your weight on the crown of the head. To ensure a solid foundation, grasp opposite elbows on the floor to measure the distance apart before bringing your hands forward and together. Once you're up in Headstand, focus on one point in front of you, breathe, keep your head centered, and don't turn your face to either side.

Go with your Gut

By Peter Sterios

Haragei is a Japanese word that, when simply defined, means "belly art." It describes a quality of presence in which the intelligence of the belly is fully integrated into any activity, from the subtle protocols of a traditional tea ceremony to the unwavering intention of an archer drawing her bow or the elegant stroke of a calligrapher's brush. In the book Hara: The Vital Center of Man, philosopher and Zen practitioner Karlfried Dürckheim says that when haragei is cultivated, "an all-around transformation of all one's faculties takes place, unhindered by the limitations of the five senses and the intellect. One perceives reality more sensitively, is able to take in perceptions in a different way, assimilates them and therefore reacts differently and, finally radiates something different...The three fundamental reactions to life and the world—perception, assimilation, and response—change in the direction of an expansion, deepening, and intensifying of the whole personality." I find the qualities of haragei readily accessible in Mayurasana, the pose of the peacock, because it requires deep belly work. While this type of work is not exactly comfortable, it can be transformative.

Like most other arm balances, Mayurasana appears to require exceptional strength. What is actually needed, though, is patient, progressive work to develop a more intimate relationship with gravity. To begin doing this, you'll need to create a sturdy foundation for the pose using your hands, your forearms, and—you guessed it—your belly. Think of the hands as your feet and the forearms as your legs. Once you set up a solid base, you'll need to press your elbows deep into your belly, which might initially make you flinch and tighten your gut. It will feel counterintuitive to soften your belly around your elbows and dig your elbows into that flesh, but that's exactly what you'll need to do in order to complete the pose. Once you're able to do this, you'll find a strong set of deep abdominal muscles underneath the often-overused rectus abdominus (aka your washboard abs); these will keep you stable.

To finish the framework of Mayurasana, you'll also need open shoulders and wrists. The sequence that follows will help you develop them. Use it to cultivate three qualities in the physical body—a soft belly, open shoulders, and strong, flexible wrists. Go only as far as you can in each pose, staying present with your discomfort and deepening your relationship to resistance. These poses can be intense, but change will unfold if you consistently touch your discomfort as softly as you can. This approach will help you overcome difficulties and give you confidence to approach the final pose.

1. Balasana, variation

This variation of Child's Pose is a useful preparation for Mayurasana because it encourages you to redirect your breath and release unconscious holding in the belly. Placing the mat into the fold of your waist will compress the front of your floating ribs and diaphragm, just as the elbows do in the final pose. You'll notice that this squeezing of the abdominal organs is not conducive to the full front-body breathing pattern that most of us have adopted, and it often creates claustrophobia, nausea, or even a fear of dying.

Consider the pose an invitation to breathe, possibly for the first time, somewhere other than the front of your lungs, or in such a way as to avoid distending your belly as you inhale. By realigning the orientation of your breath into the back of the lungs, you'll create more internal space. Next, establish longer cycles of breath by slowing down each inhalation and exhalation. Visualize the breath becoming narrow as you channel it through your body. To lessen the feelings of claustrophobia and shortness of breath, consciously move that narrow breath into the compressed ribs and lungs.

To begin the pose, sit on your heels with your knees and feet together, in Vajrasana (Thunderbolt). Place a rolled-up mat deep into the crease of your waist, then bend forward on an exhalation. Keep your arms straight, your palms flat, and your head in line with your neck. With each cycle of breath, consciously soften your diaphragm and floating ribs as you exhale, and feel the weight of your abdominal organs dropping. If you feel a release in the waist and an invitation to go deeper, walk your hands forward and continue to fold over the mat. Once your head reaches the floor, bring your arms alongside you with the palms turned up. If it's difficult to reach the floor, come up and unroll the mat a little to make it thinner, and try again.

As you begin your next inhalation, imagine breathing into the back of your heart, and feel the breath lifting your thoracic spine (upper back) slightly. You may not get a full breath, but keep the rhythm of your breath long and slow, and the energy of your frontal chest, ribs, and belly quiet. As you exhale, release the weight of your abdominal organs, soften the diaphragm, and surrender the arms, feeling their weight pulling down on the shoulders, collarbones, and thorax.

With practice, you will notice more space in your abdomen as the organs become toned and supple. The pattern of breathing into your back will become familiar, and your spine will elongate freely as your breath works to release the tension in your belly center.

2. Dragonfly Pose

It may not be the most graceful pose, but Dragonfly is a great way to get the shoulder opening you'll need in Mayurasana. It releases the musculature of the upper back, increasing the range of motion in the shoulders. In so doing, it will increase your ability to bring the elbows together in Mayurasana. Broadening across the upper back also helps release the muscles in the area that chronically grip and, ultimately, create rigidity in the thoracic spine. As you gently surrender during this warm-up pose, you'll gradually feel a subtle elongation of your spine.

Another benefit of Dragonfly is that it compresses the chest and restricts the upper portions of the lungs—just as Mayurasana does. This is especially helpful for women, since they have breast tissue to manage, or for men with highly developed pectoral tissue, like weightlifters. As you did in the Balasana variation, realign the orientation of your breath into your back body and draw air into the back of your lungs. At the same time, slow your breath down and draw your narrow breath into the compressed space to bring more tranquillity to the nervous system.

To begin, lie on your belly with your legs straight. Bring your arms underneath you and across your chest as though you were giving yourself a hug. Keep your arms on the same line as your shoulders and stack one elbow on top of the other. Walk your fingertips apart as far as you can, palms facing up. Completely "empty" your arms, keep your hands passive, and consciously slow your breath down. With an inhalation, tuck your toes under and lift your hips and belly off the floor. Keep your knees and forehead on the floor. These movements will bring your center of gravity forward over your arms while giving you an efficient stretch. As you stay there, feel the fullness of your breath in the back of your heart. With each exhalation, soften the top of your lungs and feel the weight of your heart and chest sinking onto your arms. Feel your neck lengthening as the upper back releases, and gently slide your forehead forward, generating length in the cervical spine. Stay with this for 3 to 4 cycles of breath, then gently drop back down onto your belly.

3. Mandukasana, variation

Once you have prepared your belly and shoulders for Mayurasana, one last "edge" remains that, in this day and age of keyboard-generated wrist weakness, has become a major obstacle for many. If you have any symptoms of repetitive stress or carpal tunnel syndrome in your wrists, the discomfort you feel in your hands, wrists, and forearms can be excruciating in Mayurasana. If you are in an inflamed state, don't practice this series. But if you are in a recovery stage and you've checked with your health care practitioner, you might try this pose. Approach the discomfort that arises in this Mandukasana variation with patience, knowing that the resistance in the wrists will eventually yield, allowing you to build the strength necessary for Mayurasana.

Come into a tabletop position on your hands and knees and, with your knees hip distance apart, place the tops of your feet on the floor and bring them together so that your big toes touch. Next, externally rotate your hands 180 degrees, bringing your pinkies together, and place your palms flat on the floor. Walk your knees back a few inches, then sit back toward your heels, keeping your arms straight. The heels of your hands will peel off the floor, but go back only as far as you can while keeping your elbows straight and the pads of your fingers flat on the floor. When you reach the limitation of your wrists, stay there for 2 to 3 breaths.

If you want to go farther, slowly bend your arms, this time peeling your fingers off the floor, until your elbows touch the floor. Keep the very tips of your fingers on the floor, even if it's just your fingernails hooking into the mat. Gently soften into the top of the wrists, the bones of the hands, and fingers as you press the wrists forward. On an inhalation, release your hands and roll your wrists over in the opposite direction as if you were trying to touch your fingers onto your forearms.

As a counterpose, come back to your hands and knees and place the back of your right wrist onto the floor, with your fingers pointing toward your feet. Try to keep the weight of your body equal on both arms. Repeat with the back of your left wrist. Once you've trained the wrists and forearms—the areas of the body that make up the foundation of the pose—you'll be ready to take on the final challenge of Mayurasana.

4. Padma Mayurasana, variation

Mayurasana is like a human teeter-totter, and as any kid on a playground knows, a teeter-totter can provide hours of fascination, not to mention the experience of being "en-light-ened." With a stable base and relatively even weight on each end, there is a remarkable lack of effort required to seesaw, or move up and down. It can help to think of Mayurasana and this preparatory pose, Padma Mayurasana, in the same way. Binding the legs in Padmasana (Lotus) brings them closer to the pose's center of gravity (your arms) so that less force is required to lift off the floor.

In this variation, though, you'll keep your head and knees on the floor, so you don't have to worry about balancing. Attempting to balance too quickly in the pose often causes fear to kick in. Then you tighten your gut, which causes your elbows to slide and—guess what?—you lose your balance and feel frustrated. So, take the opportunity here to practice completely relaxing your whole body as you press your elbows into your belly center. Allow the folds of your abdominal flesh to roll over your elbows, and eventually you'll feel your elbows lock into the firmness of the deep layers of your abdomen.

To begin, sit in Padmasana. Roll up onto your knees, placing your hands flat on the floor in front of you. With straight arms, walk your hands forward into Simhasana (Lion Pose), keeping your head upright and your arms directly under your shoulders as the front of your pelvis drops toward the floor. Breathe deeply, feeling the sensation of your breath pouring into the floor of the pelvis. With each exhalation, soften your diaphragm and feel the weight of your internal organs drop. Soften your inner groins, and let your hips sink deeper as your waist lengthens. If you feel any compression in the lower back or sacrum, draw your tailbone down toward the floor, the navel in slightly toward the spine.

When you feel ready, rotate your arms so that your fingers are pointing toward your hips. Then lean forward, bend your elbows, and press your forearms together until your forehead touches the floor. Keep your belly and buttocks soft, and feel the flesh of your abdomen rolling over the elbows. Breathe into the back of your heart, and as you exhale, soften the top of the lungs, feeling your chest and outer shoulders releasing down toward the floor. With each cycle of breath, soften more deeply into the belly and feel your torso completely supported by your arms. Stay here for 3 to 4 cycles of breath, keeping your attention on the softening process of the belly. When you reach this stage of the pose and develop a degree of comfort in it, you are ready for the final liftoff.

5. Mayurasana

Most arm balances require incredible strength in the core, and Mayurasana is no exception. The belly is the key to the pose, but it's the most difficult part to master. To be simultaneously supple yet firm in your abdomen, you'll have to keep softening your belly, staying with the discomfort of digging your elbows into it until you can trust that firmness and stability will come—and they will. But not in the surface layers of tissue or muscle. You'll have to literally move beyond your comfort zone into a space where you simultaneously balance effort and non-effort. Seek the place where you experience a more intimate relationship with firmness, where you overcome fear and can enjoy the exhilaration of flying. Now your belly is fully integrated into the pose—this is haragei.

Come into the Padma Mayurasana variation and slide forward on your forehead slightly so that your center of gravity shifts, creating lightness in the legs and more weight on the bridge of your nose. Feeling this, slowly lift your knees, keeping the belly soft, and extend your thighs away from your hips. Keep your head down until you feel your balance steady. Then slowly lift your head until your body is horizontal to the floor. Stay with Padma Mayurasana as long as you can maintain a smooth, even rhythm in your breathing. Release any gripping in your belly and feel your elbows dive deeper into your gut. Let your outer shoulders release down toward the floor and feel your upper back broadening. When you find a sure steadiness, carefully unhook your legs and extend them back, leaning forward over your hands to counterbalance the weight and extension of your legs. When the legs are fully straight, keep extending through the toes and stay for another 3 to 4 breaths. Then lower your feet to the floor gently and release the pose.

It will take consistent practice before your Mayurasana reaches that perfect balance of gravity and grace, where the effort you expend in the pose comes from integration rather than muscular exertion. But it's worth your perseverance. Ultimately, as you master this pose, you will gain tranquillity in the midst of discomfort, allowing you to move beyond your edge and trust that an inner elasticity will support you if you surrender.

Twist poses

By Andrea Ferretti, sequence by Elise Miller

The first three poses in this sequence are often taught to people with hip or back stiffness, sacroiliac imbalances, degenerative disks, arthritis, or sciatica. With the exception of Paschimottanasana, do each pose in this sequence for five breaths on each side.

1. Bharadvajasana (Bharadvaja’s Twist), with chair Sit sideways on a chair with your right hip facing the chair back and a block between your thighs. The chair will stabilize the lower back, pelvis, and legs, allowing you to safely rotate your upper spine. Place the hands on the chair back as you inhale and lift the spine. Exhale and twist, pulling with the left hand and pushing with the right. Allow the head and neck to follow the twist of the spine.

2. Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle), with chair Place a chair in front of you and put your right foot between its front legs. Step your left foot back about 4 feet and turn it in 80 degrees. Place your hands on your hips and square them. Inhale, lift your torso, exhale, and fold forward, placing your left hand on the chair seat, in line with your right big toe. Place your right hand on your sacrum and twist to the right, bringing the right shoulder toward the ceiling and the left ribs forward. To go deeper, place the left elbow on the chair and raise the right arm.

3. Marichyasana III (Marichi’s Twist III), with chair Place a block on a chair, then put your right foot on the block with the toes facing forward. Place your left hand on your right knee and your right palm on your sacrum. Inhale and lift the spine, then exhale and twist to the right, allowing your neck and head to follow. Keep the hips even and twist from the upper spine. Press the right hand into the back waist to turn the torso more deeply.

4. Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (Revolved Side Angle Pose) Take a wide stance. Turn your right foot out and your left foot in 80 degrees. Square your hips toward your front foot, then bend your right knee directly over your ankle. On an exhalation, bring the left side of the body toward the right leg. Rest the left armpit to the outside of the right knee and press the palms together. Lengthen the spine and twist the ribs and torso to the right. To go deeper, bring the left palm to the floor or to a block and reach your right arm over your right ear. Gaze at your right fingertips as you lengthen your entire right side.

5. Parivrtta Dandasana (Revolved Staff Pose) Sit up tall with your legs strongly extended on the floor in Dandasana (Staff Pose). Draw the flesh of your buttocks back in order to sit directly on your sitting bones. Roll your thighs inward and maintain a natural curve in your lower back. Bring your left hand to your outer right knee and place your right fingertips on the floor behind you. Inhale and lift the spine, then exhale and twist to the right. Keep the heels even and stabilize the inner left thigh.

6. Bharadvajasana (Bharadvaja’s Twist) Sit in Dandasana. Bend your knees and bring your feet next to your left buttock. Place your left ankle on the arch of your right foot. If the left hip is higher, place a blanket under the right hip. Exhale and turn your torso to the right. Place the left hand on your right knee. Press your right fingertips into the floor (or on a block) behind the right buttock and breathe as you turn the spine. Draw the tip of the right shoulder blade in and turn the right shoulder back. Keep your torso upright without lifting the left thigh.

7. Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose) Sit in Dandasana. Bend the right leg and step the right foot to the outside of the left knee. Bend the left leg and place the foot to the right of the right sitting bone. The foot should be resting on its side, with its inner and outer edges parallel. Press the right fingertips into the floor and draw your torso up. Move the back ribs in. Exhale and turn to the right. Bend the left arm, and press it against the outside of your right knee to help you twist.

8. Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose) Sit in Dandasana. Bend the right knee and press the right heel against the perineum. Twist to the right as you lengthen your torso over your left leg. Reach out and hold the inner side of the left foot with the left hand, thumb pointing toward the floor and left pinky pointing up. Stretch the right arm overhead and hold the outer side of the left foot. Bend and widen the elbows away from each other to spiral the waist, chest, and shoulders. Extend the spine and rest the left ribs on the left thigh.

9. Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend) From Dandasana, reach your arms overhead, exhale, and fold forward, grabbing the feet, shins, or thighs. Inhale and lengthen the torso up. Exhale, bend the elbows out, and take the torso toward the legs as you extend the front, sides, and back of the body toward the feet. Breathe deeply and steadily. Stay for 5 to 10 breaths.