Reverse Snow Angel
Reverse Snow Angel
Reverse Snow Angel is a wonderful back body strengthener. While not a classical Hatha yoga posture, it’s a fun exercise with many benefits for the spine.
Reverse Snow Angel promotes good posture, T-spine proprioception (which can be a tough area to develop sensation in) and can relieve some types of low back pain.
If your students are comfortable in poses like LOCUST, Reverse Snow Angel is a great next step pose to teach.
Before doing Back Extension type poses, it’s wise to warm up the body through spinal articulation like CAT COW.
You can follow this with a few BABY COBRAs.
Let’s break down the pose.
DIRECTIONS
Lay on your belly (prone position) with chin or forehead on the floor. All four limbs on the floor.
Open your arms like the letter ‘T’, palms facing the floor.
Separate your legs slightly – this will look like a skydiving position.
Lift your head off the floor but keep your gaze at your mat–head is extension of spine here.
WORK IN THE POSE
Lift all four limbs and head; inhale extend arms overhead and bring inner legs together
Exhale open back into starting position
** To protect the low back from overarching: draw the navel in slightly and lengthen the tail as you lift. Think ‘length away from a lifted center instead of heighth.’
BENEFITS
Strengthens the entire back body including muscles that support your spine
Promotes good posture
Counteracts the negative effects of sitting
Tones buttocks
Enhances proprioception (sensation) in the thoracic spine
FOLLOW UP POSES
For more postural training poses which counteract the negative effects of sitting, look up the tag Back extension on this site.
(Visited 193 times, 1 visits today)