DEVELOP GOOD POSTURE WITH THIS YOGA POSE OF THE WEEK: Dandasana
(don-daah-suh-nuh)
danda: staff
asana: pose or seat
“Don’t let this pose deceive you, there’s more to Dandasana than meets the eye”
Dandasana (Staff Pose) is a foundational seated pose which helps to develop good posture and can set the tone for the alignment for the rest of your yoga postures. Although this may look like an easy seat, the concentration on body awareness, muscle engagement and spinal lengthening creates this active, yet beneficial asana.
Benefits:
- Lengthens the spine
- Strengthens back, abdominal muscles, thighs and hip flexors
- Allows lift and expansion across collar bones and chest
- Massages internal organs and improves digestion
- Increases flexibility of the hamstrings and hips
- Improves overall posture
Step by Step:
- Begin seated with legs extended forward
- Bring your palms on floor beside hips, shoulders stacked over hands, fingers point forward, straighten your arms
- Flex your ankles, reach evenly through feet
- Engage quadriceps, release inner thighs towards floor, press thigh bones down, even weight on both sit bones
- Allow crown of head to reach toward ceiling, broaden across the collar bones, shoulder blades release down the back
- Draw abdomen in and up, soften lower ribs
- To exit pose, release your arms and shake your legs
Variations/Modifications:
If hands don’t reach the ground, you can crawl fingertips forward, keeping spine straight or place hands on a block. If your back is rounding, sit on a folded blanket or pillow so that your hips are lifted and higher than your knees. To intensify core engagement, lift arms up towards the ceiling, palms facing each other.
Dandasana pose allows you to tap into your body and connect with proper alignment. So many facets of the rest of your yoga practice are in this pose. Muscle engagement, strong posture, spinal lengthening and feet activation can prepare you to be more aware of your body for the rest of your yoga practice.
Enjoy this foundational pose for a few breaths within your yoga practice and you will feel yourself develop good posture on and off the mat.
