Garudasana
For May we’ll be practicing Garudasana or Eagle Pose. Garuda was a mythical eagle who had the beak and wings of a bird but the body of a man.
To come into eagle stand in tadasana and find a focal point, then inhale the arms out into a T-shape, as you exhale cross the arms at the elbows in front of you,* bring the forearms together in front of your face, letting the hands clasp. Then shift your weight into the right leg, bending the knee, and simultaneously extend the left leg, wrapping it over top of the right leg, trying to get it as high on the thigh as possible. If your body allows, continue to tuck the back toes behind the right calf. Muscle bulk may make some of the wrapping in this pose more difficult at first. The lower you sit in this pose the more intense it becomes. If you are new to practicing eagle you may want to build up to the full expression of the pose as the effects to the cardiovascular system become intense when coming out of it.. Once in the pose, think of squeezing the legs and arms together. This compression aids in increasing circulation for the limbs, like a spinal twist does for the torso and vertebral column. The increased circulation can help alleviate muscle cramps in the calves, remedy varicose veins, and remove stiffness in the shoulders.
This is the most compacted of the standing asanas, which affects the shape of the lungs and therefore our breathing capacity. The crossed arms compress the ribs, and therefore the lungs, while the angle of the hips compresses the lower abdomen. Your inhaled air will find some of those hard to reach places of the lungs (particularly the very upper cavity). So be aware of keeping the breath even and full in the pose—as you are squeezing the limbs together, feel that you are squeezing the breath in and out.
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
*Within great traditions of yoga there is some debate about which arm and leg correlate. For instance, the great yoga master B.K.S Iyengar and Leslie Kaminoff, author of Yoga Anatomy, instruct us that the top leg and bottom arm should be the same. While David Coulter, author of Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, and Sivananda yoga instruct us to have opposite knee on top and elbow on the bottom. That said you may find the teachers at Hosh instructing both versions—by the end of the month you can decide which version you prefer for yourself.
nice and informative post