Dancer Pose
Modern day humans spend too much time sitting in front of screens - computer screens, phone screens, TV screens - you name it. This lifestyle causes most of our common postural distortions, things like shoulders rounding forward, tight hips, and low back pain.
As your coach and resident flexibility and mobility specialist, I have strategically selected several exercises in next week's SPT program to help strengthen our weakest links by taking advantage of the Reciprocal Inhibition concept.
It sounds very technical and fancy, but it just means we are working with the body's natural process of one side contracting while the opposite side is relaxing. We know that our most powerful weapon against poor posture is building a strong, functional posterior extensor chain… fancy for the backside of your body.
Learning a beautiful and demanding pose like Dancer is an excellent way to integrate an important skill: building a strong posterior chain.
Coach Wendy demonstrates Dancer Pose.
In yoga we use Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. Natarajasana, meaning "King Dancer Pose", is a posture of a dance of bliss. It is a position of strength, balance, and focus.
It is also a posture that some people tend to shy away from. It feels like it includes all the hard things about yoga: It's a backbend - standing on one leg - while challenging your stability and your core. Phew, that’s a lot!
To encourage you to be brave and try natarajasana, today we are giving you an official invitation to not be shy. Instead, work incrementally. The more you practice, the easier the posture will become over time and you can reap the benefits - like keeping your upright posture as you age!
Perhaps more beautifully, the dancer pose opens your heart, lungs, and improves your balance.
Yoga Teacher Shawna demonstrates Dancer Pose.
You CAN do it! In your own way! You don't even need to do it standing! What?!!
That’s right, there are so many other ways to approach the standing pose, practicing it in different ways, and building the foundations required!
We are here to support you, guide you, and offer training and variations so you can find YOUR DANCER POSE! Yes, we are both dancers, but remember, so are you.
Written by Wendy & Shawna