SPRING RECLINED TWIST

Spring officially arrived in LA!

After a winter like we’ve had, it can be easy to feel sluggish and heavy – emotionally and physically. January and February 2019 were my least productive months in the 16 years of living here. The endless rains just had me in hibernating bear mode.

But the LA Marathon was today, the birds are singing and my garden is out of control so I’m convinced Spring is indeed HERE!

This Spring Reclined Twist is a great way to relieve a tight low back, boost digestion and the detoxify the body. In a future post, I’ll share more ways to ‘spring clean’ your life and your body as we head into the warmer months.

RECLINED TWIST

There are lots of twists to choose from in the yoga tradition – seated, standing and reclined.

Note: Twists can be very therapeutic for back pain that’s muscular in origin but contraindicated for back pain due to disc herniations, sciatica and hypermobility in SI joints. Choose wisely and if you’re unsure, try this twist without the strap first to see how you feel.

Twists stoke the digestive fire (agni) which optimizes nutrition exactraction from the food we eat, elimination and metabolic processes. Damp wet weather, an abundance of heavy foods, or too much food and stress all dampen agni.

ALIGNMENT

Once the body is warm from practice, hug right knee into the chest and place the right foot in a strap.

Straighten right leg.

Hold both straps in left hand, both elbows on the floor.

Draw the right leg to the left, across the body, stacking the hips onto of one another.

Extend the right arm out like a ‘T’ and turn your head to look over the right thumb.

*If you are hypermobile, it will take some core activation to actually hover the leg above the floor instead of flopping. Focus on keeping the hips stacked as if the sacrum were up against a wall.

BENEFITS

Boosts sluggish digestion
Lengthens and realigns spine
Massages abdominal organs
Stretches IT band and outer hips

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Disc herniations
Lumbar hypermobility
SI Joint dysfunction

EXPLORE

Invite the right shoulder to soften with each exhalation
Visualize the breath gently massaging the center of your body

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Catherine Tingey

Entrepreneur, yogini, designer, award-winning filmmaker, personal trainer and former marathon runner. She left a career in finance to start her own business and along the way, became a yoga teacher after practicing for 24 years.

Tags: Twists

About the Author

Catherine Tingey + Entrepreneur, yogini, designer, award-winning filmmaker, personal trainer and former marathon runner. She left a career in finance to start her own business and along the way, became a yoga teacher after practicing for 24 years.