Day 24: Rabbit Pose

Sasangasana, Rabbit Pose

Any posture in Bikram Yoga where you cannot see yourself can feel tricky at first. We cue looking at yourself in the mirror throughout the class, but in Rabbit pose you are all squished up and cannot see yourself. This is a great opportunity to FEEL what is going on in your body! The first step of Rabbit is to get a tight grip on your heels. Once you’ve got the grip, use an exhale to pull the low belly in and up, and start to round down. Make sure you go slow in this setup — it is important to get tight and compact from the very beginning to get maximum benefit from this posture. Get your forehead as close to your knees as possible (one day it WILL touch), top of your head to the floor, and then pull your heels as you lift your hips up. You pull on your heels throughout the entirety of the posture to provide you with leverage to stretch your spine. Your spine can be stretched 12+ inches longer in this posture than it was in Camel, how cool!

Benefits of Rabbit Include:

• Helps maintain mobility and elasticity of the spine and back muscles.

• Provides maximum longitudinal extension of the spine

• Nurtures the nervous system and regulates hormones.

• Brings blood to the brain; regulates the thalamus and hypothalamus.

• Improves digestion and relieves glandular problems

• Improves neck and shoulder flexibility.