Posture of the Month - Eagle Pose

EAGLE POSE (GARURASANA)

Key Points for Your Practice: 
-Make sure your hands are in front of the center of your face, thumbs towards your face, little fingers towards the mirror.
-Once you get your palms as close as you can, release your fingers up towards the ceiling and pull down with your elbows to open your shoulders.
-Release your hips a little bit towards the back wall and sit down as much as you can.
-If you can't wrap your foot all the way around the calf, point your toes in the direction you want them to go and have faith they will get there!
-Once you have the wrap, slide your foot down your leg to remove any gap between ankle and calf muscle.
-Squeeze your knees, ankles, thighs together as if you were "cracking walnuts" between them all.
Make sure the weight is distributed all over your standing food equally the same.
-Keep your abdomen engaged throughout the posture.
-Arch your upper body back to help with balance.
-Make slow, controlled adjustments to get your feet, knees, elbows, and hands all in one line in the front mirror.

Stretches: 12 major joints of the body: shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles.

Stimulates: Kidneys, reproductive organs, & lymphatic system.

Benefits: Improves and maintains joint lubrication; improves the mobility of the hip joint; improves immune system through stimulation of the lymphatic system; regulates menstruation; improves fertility; good for cellulite and varicose veins; balances sexual energy; good for urinary tract infections in women; & good for prostate health in men.

What is happening in the posture: Eagle pose opens the major joints in the body. Pressure created during the pose helps to irrigate the circulatory system. Blood reserved in the muscles during the pose, flushes the joints after the pose is released, helping to relieve joint problems and maintaining synovial fluid.