Why would we raise our hands in the air?
So many reasons … Raising our arms from a solid base, with awareness at our base, allows our shoulders to move in a relaxed way. Like we spoke about last week, with Tadasana, we are creating these shapes from our connection to the Earth. From our connection to stability. Feet rooted down into the earth, leg muscles actively lifting, pelvis neutral and steady. This signals to the rest of the body that the feet and legs are holding us, the Earth is holding us. That other parts of us can take a load off and relax! This also goes beyond our physical body to our physical body in relation to the earth, in relation to the space around us. This is Union, this is Yoga. As we explore this union of self to earth and self to space around us, something different starts to occur throughout the nervous system as well. Something starts to settle.

From this connected foundation of the lower body to the earth, we raise our arms, straight out and up. We feel the range of motion we have in our shoulders and we stop at our edge. We keep our arms shoulder distance apart with palms facing each other. This is why in the video I give some optional cues for different ranges of motion through the upper body. Sometimes we meet a lot of tension in the neck, the jaw, the shoulder girdle, the upper back. Wherever we meet ourselves it is really important to be there, in the truth of the moment. Not where we’d like to be, not where we were a few years ago. But right here, right now, receiving, with an open mind and heart, exactly what our experience is right now!

The simpler things appear to us, the more we seem to overlook them. This shape is often overlooked because it is generally cued in yoga sequences as a part of a flow. But stopping here, feeling this shape, will tell you a lot about yourself. Then, when you come to use it in a flow you will have an understanding of how to modify this shape for you and what benefits this shape has.
What are the benefits of this shape –
A full stretch for the whole length of the body.
Strengthening for the legs and for our connection to the earth.
Toning for the abdominal muscles – we draw the navel back and tuck the front ribs in so as not to sway the lower back and lose earth connection.
When our tummy muscles are activated, our digestion is activated.
Opening for the shoulders and strengthening here as well, we plug the shoulders into their sockets, by drawing the shoulder blades towards each other and down toward the waist.
Actively taking this shape, draws breath up into the chest, creating space around the lungs. This is therapeutic for congestion and for asthma.
Through drawing the breath upwards, with action, the breath gently expands in this space of the chest. With the sense feeling of our connection to the earth and the breath active in the upper body, anxiety and tension from anxiety can be relieved.
I’m looking forward to hearing how you go with this shape, what range of motion you meet in yourself and if you may need any other modifications.
Give it a go and let me know!
In love, for love, as love, Susie x