Fitness Friday - Seated Twist Yoga Pose

I am starting off these year's coverage of Fitness Friday with another new yoga pose, yoga has become a huge part of my life ever since I first started practicing it and I fully anticipate that I will keep improving and growing in my practice this year.  I make no secret of the fact that my favorite poses are nearly all standing poses and I feel that I have the most area of growth in my practice with any poses other than these.  I have often tended to feel that seated poses were more of a "cool down" and practiced them after standing poses however I took a class the other week that consists of all seated poses and I struggled more than I thought possible.  I decided that I needed to grow my practice in this area in order to really grow in my overall yoga practice.

Today we are looking at Seated Twist pose (also know as Half Lord of the Fishes pose), a pose that literally twists the spine.  Yoga Journal states that this pose is designed to "energize the spine and stimulate the digestive fire", I have never tried this pose after eating a meal and I don't think that I ever plan too...

The Yoga Journal website provides the following step by step instructions on how to achieve this pose.  This is one pose that few teachers expect students to be able to get into on their first try and it will need to be practiced before the spine is capable of the full twist.

- Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, buttocks supported on a folded blanket.  Bend your knees, put your feet on the floor, then slide your left foot under your right leg to the outside of your right hip.  Lay the outside of the left leg on the floor.  Step the right foot over the left leg and stand it on the floor outside your left hip.  The right knee will point directly up at the ceiling.

- Exhale and twist toward the inside of your right thigh.  Press the right hand against the floor just behind your right buttock, and set your left upper arm on the outside of your right hip near your knee.  Pull your front torso and inner right thigh snugly together.

- Press the inner right foot very actively on the floor, release the right groin, and lengthen the front torso.  Lean the upper torso back slightly, against the shoulder blades, and continue to lengthen the tailbone into the floor.

- You can turn your head in one of two directions: Continue the twist of the torso by turning it to the right; or counter the twist of the torso by turning it left and looking over the left shoulder at the right foot.

- With every inhalation lift a little more through the sternum, pushing the fingers against the floor to help.  Twist a little more with every exhalation.  Be sure to distribute the twist evenly throughout the entire length of the spine, don't concentrate it in the lower back.  Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then release with an exhalation, return to the starting position, and repeat to the left for the same length of time.

I can hold this position well on my right side but I still have more work to do on my left side.  This deep twist really works the muscles in my back and has become my new favorite seated yoga pose.  I will keep growing my practice with seated poses and will write up a few more in my upcoming Fitness Fridays!

photo courtesy of Yoga Journal