Pause & Pose: Camel Pose

This simple pose is one of our all-time favorites -- it's easy enough for the beginner and it has benefits for the whole body! Follow the tips from resident yogi Jessie James and enjoy this strengthening stretch.

Camel Pose

Ustrasana

Level 1

Benefits: The benefits of Camel pose are truly full body. It stretches your chest, abdominals, neck, thighs, psoas, and ankles. Camel pose stimulates the organs of your abdomen and neck, while strengthening your back muscles. It can be used to ease mild backache, digestive discomfort, fatigue, and anxiety.

Tips: The bad habit in Camel is the desire to tighten your glutes, thrust your hips forward and fall back to your ankles dumping into your low back. Bad alignment in this pose misses the point. It takes the work out of creating space in every disk in your spine and over stretches the already flexible parts of your spine. Instead, keep your glutes soft and your hips above your knees; engage your low belly while softening your inner thighs and back. You will find that building support in the lower half of your body will allow your upper spine to stretch, which is so crucial in keeping our mobility as we age. If your ankles feel too far away bring your hands to your lower back, fingers pointing up. Then stretch up and back as far as you can breath calmly.

Now go pause, pose and find peace.