Side Plank Pose

A variation of the Plank Pose (Kumbhakasana) is Side Plank Pose. You can move into this from standard plank as it focuses on strengthening the side that is holding the rest of your body weight. I found it particularly useful for strengthening the arms, wrists and the abdominals. Also you can feel the leg nearest the floor, in particular the thigh working hard. It's important that the palms are flat and firmly grounded on the floor and the arm is stretching out as much as possible. This beautiful stretch oxygenates the working muscles to keep them strong and healthy. 

Crescent Moon in Vinyasa Flow Yoga

In this weeks Yoga session we practiced a new pose called Crescent Moon. In a Vinyasa flow sequence this can be started from a deep forward fold or it works from kneeling position. We added this on to our regular sequence which goes like this;

1)Beginning at the top of the mat in Mountain Pose (inhale)

2) Extended Mountain Pose (exhale)

3) Deep Forward Fold (inhale)

4) Plank (exhale)

5) Knees, chest, chin (inhale)

6) Cobra (exhale)

7) Step back into Downward Facing Dog (inhale)

8) Step right foot forward and left leg back in to Crescent Moon (exhale)

9)Step left and right foot forward into Deep Forward Fold  (inhale)

10) Raise arms to Extended Mountain Pose (exhale)

Namaste