Camel Pose - Ustrasana

Camel Pose is an intense back bend, a progression from Bow pose and is a great heart opener. The camel is a strong animal. It represents the ability to accomplish the impossible and to go through life's challenges with ease. If you feel disconnected from the world, family/relationships or are struggling with forgiveness, practicing camel pose can help you express your feelings and find compassion towards others.

Benefits of Camel Pose

This pose is quite advanced, but well worth the benefits. It aims at opening up the chest, promoting lymph drainage, It opens up your heart chakra. That's why it's associated with love and inner emotions.

It benefits the body by tightening the thighs, waist and hips, strengthening the arms, shoulders, knees and thighs and massaging the kidneys and bladder.

The backward bending in camel stretches, stimulates and increases muscular flexibility of the spine. It's great for those with drooping shoulders, as it helps to improve posture and relieve back pain. Practicing camel pose on a regular basis will prevent aches, pains and injuries to the back. If you're an athlete, it's important to have flexibility and mobility of the spine. You don't want any weak areas, that can be prone to injury.

When opening up the chest, you expand the rib cage. This increases the lung capacity, allowing you to inhale more oxygen into the body. Most people don't take in enough oxygen with every breath. Camel Pose helps with any respiratory problems.

With the gravity pull, there is an increase of blood circulation in the head. This means that the sensory organs are stimulated and activated, which helps with hair loss. With this increase of blood supply to the brain, there is an increase of memory, concentration and a reduction of stress and anxiety. This helps improve insomnia, nightmares, disturbed sleep, depression and headaches. hormonal function is also stimulated and regulated, which balances the pituitary, pineal, thyroid and adrenal glands.

This posture improves the reproductive system and the digestive system. It stretches out the intestines and the stomach. It's a great posture for curing constipation.

Although this pose may not be easy for everyone there will be a rush of endorphins and a flush of emotions after, which makes camel pose worth it. Just as life throws us difficult challenges, once we overcome them, we become stronger.

Steps for Camel Pose

1. Sit on your knees.
2. Reach backwards, grab the left ankle with the left hand and right ankle with right hand.
3. Inhale and lift the hips, arching the back and pushing the abdominals forward.
4. Tilt your head back and open the chest.
5. Hold this posture for 10-20 seconds.
6. To come out, slowly place the hands on the lower back.
7. Rest in Child's pose.

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