Bridge Pose: Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

I’ve been writing for Hugger Mugger’s weblog for 14 years—arduous to imagine. And it’s equally arduous to imagine that in all these years, spanning greater than 900 posts, I’ve by no means written a fundamental weblog on how one can apply Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana). In my protection, I’ve written two articles about working towards Bridge on a Commonplace Yoga Bolster, right here and right here. I’ve additionally written about working towards Setu Bandha with a Yoga Block. However for some purpose, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana sans props escaped my thoughts.

Bridge Pose Advantages

Bridge Pose is a star amongst yoga poses, and it’s been a staple in my lessons for many years. Not solely is it a necessary yoga pose, however it’s additionally an essential pose in energy coaching routines. Bridge Pose confers so many advantages. Listed here are just a few:

• Stretches hip flexors, a essential motion for countering the sick results of an excessive amount of sitting
• Strengthens again muscular tissues, glutes and hamstrings
• Can relieve again stress
• Promotes improved posture
• Stretches the chest, neck and shoulders
• Calms the nervous system
• Could assist digestion (so long as you apply two hours after a meal)

Cautions and Contraindications

Like all yoga poses, Bridge Pose will be contraindicated in sure instances. In case you are at the moment experiencing a neck and/or shoulder harm, it is perhaps finest to keep away from Setu Bandha Sarvangasana till you’re healed. In a future put up, I’ll share a variation of Bridge Pose that is perhaps okay to apply with a neck subject.

You may additionally wish to method Bridge Pose with warning in case you are within the early, heavy days of your menstrual interval. Many ladies expertise no unintended effects from working towards Bridge Pose on their interval. However there are some girls who expertise an interruption of their regular movement. This could result in cramping and subsequent “flooding.” (I used to be in a position to apply Setu Bandha on my interval for years. Then at some point, I skilled these signs, and it was extremely disagreeable!)

Methods to Put together to Follow Bridge Pose

Earlier than working towards Setu Bandha, it may be useful to heat up the areas of the physique that can be doing a lot of the stretching and strengthening work. These embody: glutes, hip flexors, quadriceps, chest, shoulders, abdominals and neck.

Listed here are just a few strategies for attainable warm-up poses. In fact, a pair rounds of Surya Namaskar (Solar Salutations) may work as nicely:

Methods to Follow Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

1. Lie in your again on a nonskid Yoga Mat.
2. Bend your knees and place the soles of your toes on the ground.
3. Draw your arms shut in to your sides, then bend your elbows in order that your forearms are vertical.
4. Press your higher arms into the ground, and concurrently arch your low again away from the ground.
5. Lengthen your arms alongside your physique.
6. Lengthen your knees outward, away out of your pelvis with the intention to start to raise your again off the ground. Hold extending your knees outward away out of your pelvis as your pelvis lifts into Bridge Pose. Keep this outward extension isometrically as you maintain the pose.
7. I choose extending outward via my legs to raise into the pose, moderately than merely pushing up with my glutes. I’ve discovered that after I push up with my glutes, I overextend my hip joints, which may, over time, put on down the cartilage and labrum. The opposite factor that occurs is that my knees are inclined to splay out to the edges after I merely push up with my glutes. This doesn’t occur after I isometrically lengthen my knees outward from my pelvis. You in all probability gained’t raise as excessive as you’d by pushing into your hip joints, however lifting excessive isn’t the purpose! Working towards sustainably is much extra essential.
8. Rock aspect to aspect onto the tops of your shoulders and clasp your fingers beneath you. In case your elbows bend if you clasp your fingers, apply together with your arms parallel on the ground. You can too maintain a Yoga Strap between your fingers to create a stronger grounding in your arms.
9. Take 5 to 10 deep breaths, stress-free your neck, throat, jaw and facial muscular tissues.
10. To go away the pose, lengthen your arms out overhead, alongside the ground and slowly decrease your backbone down onto the ground, lengthening as you go. Repeat in case you like.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and started educating in 1986. Charlotte is the creator of Aware Yoga, Aware Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each printed by Rodmell Press. Her third e book is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Pink Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards in 2010.