Bridge Yoga Pose
Other name of the pose is Half Wheel pose.
Type of yoga pose: backbend
Benefits: the pose helps you strengthen the spine, open the chest, improve flexibility of the spine, stimulate the thyroid.
To get into Bridge Yoga Pose you need:
1. To lie on the back.
2. Then bend the knees, bringing your feet soles parallel to the mat close to your buttocks.
3. Now you are to raise your hips up towards the ceiling.
4. Afterwards you should interlace the fingers behind your back, straighten your arms and press them down into the mat.
5. Then you need to roll one shoulder under, then the second one.
6. Now you are to raise your hips higher.
7. The next step is to draw your chest towards the chin, but don’t approach your chin to the chest.
8. Make sure that your feet are parallel to each other.
9. Release your hands and bring the upper, middle, and then lower back down.
10. Now you can rest and allow your knees to knock together.
A note for beginners: to achieve a restorative effect, you can bring a block under the sacrum and let yourself rest on it.
When you come down, you should keep your hands interlaced under the weight of the body for a shoulder opener.
A note for advanced: you can try to relax the buttocks when keeping the thighs engaged in order to lift the hips higher.
Then you should lift one leg at a time straight up to the ceiling.
You are to come into this yoga pose from shoulder stand.