Asana Breakdown: Dancers Pose or Natarajasana

Dancers Pose is a deep backbend. It builds strength, stamina, and patience.

Enjoy the following tips, tricks, and benefits!

Tips + Tricks:

- Stand in mountain pose 🏔 and set your gaze. 👁

- Press down through the big toe mound and lift on the inner arch. This will help to lift the knee caps, engage the thighs, and protect the knees. 🦵 If you have trouble with hypertension, take a gentle bend to the standing knee instead.

- Rotate the inner thighs toward the back room.

- Gentle lift sternum and soften front ribs while drawing pelvic bowl up toward navel.

- Maintain mountain pose symmetry as you draw a knee in and reach for the inner edge of the foot or ankle. 🦶

- Press back and up, leading with the inner thigh. The power of this pose is in the stability of the gaze, the foundation of the foot, and the pressure of the kick, so keep kicking back!

- Work to square the hips (this is different for different yogic philosophies).

- Reach and stretch toward the front of the room with the opposite arm and keep the engagement of the core to protect the low back.

- This is an advanced pose, so stop anywhere along the way or work on challenging your edge! Breathe 🌬 and have fun!!!

Benefits:

- Helps improve focus, concentration, and postural awareness and challenges the dristi. ☮️

- As it is a backbend, it promotes a boost of energy and fights fatigue.

- Strengthens core and back muscles and stretches chest and shoulders.

- On the standing leg, it stretches the hip flexor and thigh and strengthens the glutes and hamstring.