MOST Magazine Fitness JUN'15 ISSUE NO.2 | Page 152

- Svarga
or Dvijasana (Dvija means twice born and Svarga
means paradise or heaven).
Since we are in spring and everything is
blooming, I thought this would be the perfect
posture for this month. In this posture you
experience the depth of renewal within the body
by emulating a tropical flower, the bird of paradise.
Birds also embody renewal as they are born twice,
first as an egg then as a bird. I enjoy experiencing
this posture because it demands my whole body
to engage and work together. Grounded into the
earth with my standing leg, I enjoy this position
as my upper body opens and takes flight. This
posture can be taken from a bound extended side
angle pose or from a king chair pose as shown.
First start in king chair pose, feet are six inches
apart and bend your knees as you pull your weight
back in your heels. As you drop your hips tuck
your tailbone, lift your chest and extend your arms
up. Challenge yourself as you continue to exhale
dropping in your hips and inhale as you lift in your
chest and arms.
Next come into king chair prayer twist by
bringing your hands to your heart center in prayer.
Then twisting in your torso as you bring left elbow
outside of right leg. Keep both knees aligned as
you press your palms together for a deeper twist,
lifting in your top shoulder. Find a deeper twist with
each exhale.

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FITNESS

M A G A Z I N E || JUNE 2015 || EDITION 1

Full bound king chair is the next posture and
there is a couple steps to get there. Keeping your
king chair, split your arms in between your legs
with right hand reaching to the sky and the left to
the earth. Then take a half bind by bringing your
right hand to your left lower rib cage and grab your
upper thigh. Continue to drop your hips, keeping
your knees aligned and twist from your lower torso.
Next take your left hand and reach up to clasp your
right, the lower you sink your hips the easier the
bind will open.
Finally, you can begin to press through the
right foot to come up to standing with arms still
bound around the left leg. Use your breath to lift as
you squeeze your legs into the center of your body,
engaging your core. Straighten your standing
leg and press into all four corners of that foot to
ground down. Then bring your crown of your head
to the sky and squeeze shoulders together behind
you. As you open through your chest begin to
straighten your left leg to come into the fullest
expression of this posture. To modify, keep left
leg bent as shown.
Benefits: Challenging balance that opens the
hips, strengthens core and back and lengthens
the hamstring.