Step-By-Step

1. Lie relax on your back. Bend the knees into your stomach with an exhale.

2. Inhale then hold the outer side of the feet with your hands (in case, you find it difficult to hold your feet directly with the hands, hold them up onto a belt looped over every sole). Open the knees wider than the torso, and bring them towards the armpits.

3. Place each ankle over the knee in such a way that your shins are perpendicular to the floor. Now, flex through your heels. Smoothly, push the feet in your hands as you bring the hands down for creating resistance.

4. Coax the thighs in towards the torso and down towards the floor while lengthening your spine – release the tail bone towards the floor and increase the base of the skull away from the neck.

5. Stay in the same position for about thirty seconds to a minute. Thereafter, release your feet back to the floor with an exhale. Rest and relax for a few breaths.

Anatomical Focus – Hips

Benefits

• Helps relieve stress and fatigue and calms the brain

• Gently stretches the back spine and the inner groins

Contraindications and Cautions

• Neck injury, support head on a thickly folded blanket

• Knee injury

• Pregnancy

Beginner’s Tip

• If you fail to hold your feet with your hands, try to hold each foot with a yoga strap looped around the middle arch.

Preparatory Poses

• Virasana (Hero Pose)

• Balasana (Child Pose)

Follow-Up Poses

• Adho Mukh Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog)