Namaste
and Welcome to Namaste Yoga. My name is Surbhi. I am a Yoga Teacher.
The goal of my channel is to tell you all those little tips and tricks that
many yoga teachers know but somehow in class setting they do not
get conveyed to the students. In today's video we are going to talk
about Bridge Pose or Setubandhasana.
Bridge Pose stretches our neck, chest, and shoulders. It is a very good asana to
calm our body and mind. This is a very good asana for
people who have thyroid problems. Because it stimulates our thyroid gland.
It rejuvenates our legs and takes the tiredness away from our legs.
This is a very good asana for digestion. It is
also a very good asana for menstrual discomfort or menopause.
This particular asana takes the anxiety and stress
away. This is very good for headaches or insomnia.
It also increases the lung capacity. Which is why
it is very good for people who have asthma.
On the precautionary side if you have any major
neck problem or cervical problem you should avoid
doing this asana. First I will tell you how to do this asana
step by step in its normal way. And then I will tell you how you can
improvise this, if you do not have core strength or leg
strength or hip strength. And how you can build up to the strength
and then be able to do this asana properly. So
let's get started. First of all lie down on the mat on your
back.
Then make sure that your knee and your ankle are in one line. Sometimes
people when they are doing this asana they say bring your
heels as close to the hips as possible. And in doing so when we lift up our hip
our knees goes beyond the ankle which is not good.
So make sure when you fold your legs your knees and your ankles are in one
line. After that what I usually recommend that
you stay in this position, palms facing down and strengthen your
core a little bit. When you don't have core strength automatically your lower
back comes up and there is a gap between your lower
back and the ground. So make sure to fill that gap.
In order to do so you need core strength. So keep your core engaged and breathe
for at least two times right here to get your body used to this position.
And then you will be able to do better Setubandhasana.
Once you breathe in this position for a couple of times,
then take a deep inhale, on the exhale squeeze your hip muscles
and lift up your hips. The more you squeeze your hip muscles
the more higher you can go. Lift up your hips, after that
just curl your shoulders bring your hands together
clasp them. Keep breathing the whole time.
Straighten your elbows curl your shoulders,
and go as high up as you can.
We are not bringing the chest
towards our chin. We are taking it diagonally
up. So clasp your hand, straighten your elbows, curl your
shoulders, keep the hips squeezed the whole time
and go as high up, and keep breathing.
Keep breathing, never ever ever hold your breath.
You need to squeeze the hips so your knees don't fall like this.
You need core strength and hips strength.
Keep breathing, so stay in this position for four to five breaths. 30 seconds if
possible. And once you are coming down the first
thing you are going to do is let go of your hands.
Roll back your shoulders and then very slowly come down.
One vertebrae at a time. First your upper back comes down,
then your middle back, and the last is your lower back,
and relax. This is the proper way to come out of the pose.
Never hurry out of the pose, otherwise you will hurt yourself.
And after this it's always a good idea to do a Apanasana for few seconds
to take the pressure off your spine.
Inhale, exhale squeeze and lift up your head
and keep breathing and relax.
So this was bridge pose in its normality, if you have core strength hip strength
leg strength. Now what to do if we do not have
our body strength or if you are a beginner
and you don't know how to do this asana properly. For that
we need a block, a yoga block. So everything remains the same make sure
that your knees and your ankle are in one line.
Palms on your side. If you're a beginner and you don't have strength you will not
be able to clasp your hand underneath. So palms on your side.
Get the yoga block handy, close to you. Again, first strengthen your core,
stay in this position breathe every time you exhale make sure your
lower back is touching the ground, there is no gap in between.
And once your body is ready, take a deep inhale,
on the exhale lift yourself up, squeeze your hips, even if you don't have
strength try to squeeze your hips and then take the block and
put it underneath you. Depending on how high or how low you can
go, you can do this way or this way. So depending on your strength, just
take it underneath keep your hips squeezed,
and rest on the block. Keep your lower back on the block. The
key part is the placement of the block. Wherever you
keep it, it's your own body so you have to figure out
how you're feeling. The only thing you need to be making sure
is; that your lower back is not hurting.
So you can keep it this way or you can go higher
and keep it this way, whichever way you like. Just
rest. Make sure lower back is not hurting and keep your hips squeezed.
You can let go of the muscles and then squeeze them again.
This will build the strength in your hip muscles,
to keep your body up in the Bridge Pose. So practice this and slowly slowly
you will build up the strength that you can just take the block
out. Lift up your body a little bit then take the block out,
and see how long you can stay in this position.
And slowly as your strength is building up
you can go higher, clasp your hands,
and keep breathing. And again slowly come back
one vertebrae at a time.
And even if you did this asana with the help of the block,
still I would recommend that you do Apanasana to release the pressure
off the back. Take a deep inhale, exhale and lift up and keep breathing. Do
not hold your breath and relax on the exhale.
And slowly come up. I hope you enjoyed the dissection
of Bridge Pose or Setubandhasana. If you have
any question please feel free to write in the comment box, I would love to
answer them. You can also follow me on Facebook and
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Notification Bell, as I will be making more videos like
this every week. If there is any particular asana that
you would like me to dissect for you, please write your request in the comment
box. Wish you all a very Happy and Healthy
Day. Namaste