WEDDING YOGA: Poses for the Solar Plexus

Adding yoga to the days leading up to the wedding or on the morning of offer a power way to center and focus the body and the mind. When I do solo wedding yoga sessions with the Bride or the Groom, I tend to focus on the 3rd Chakra - our center of clarity, self-confidence & self-assurance. As the rite of passage of marriage brings up questions of identity, we play with poses that focus on our solar plexus. That means practicing Navasana (Boat Pose), Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes), Bhujangasana (Cobra) and Dhanurasana (Bow Pose). Let’s take a deeper dive into each of these poses. And of course, let me know how I can help celebrate your engagement with yoga!

Navasana

Boat pose is good for stimulating the kidneys and intestines and strengthens your core. With you hands behind your thighs, or extended forward, this seated position helps open and balance the third chakra. The body in this pose is entirely balanced on the sit bone or the buttocks. As simple as this yoga pose may look, it requires tremendous abdominal strength and great focus on the balance to get this pose right to reap all its benefits.

Benefits:

• Strengthens the abdomen, hip flexors, and spine

• Stimulates the kidneys, thyroid and prostate glands, and intestines

• Enhances blood circulation

• Sharpens patience—try to release the muscles of the face for an added bonus

Ardha Matsyendrasana

Half Lord of the Fishes pose provides a wonderful twist for your spinal column. It also massages your lower abdominal organs; strengthens your lower back. This yoga pose usually appears as a seated spinal twist with many variations, and is one of the twelve basic yoga poses (asanas) in many systems of Hatha Yoga. In this yoga pose the spine gets its maximum twist at the upper back with the thighs placed over each other and with the support of the arms the torso gets its twist.

Benefits

• Improves postural and body awareness 

• Helps stimulate proper digestion by facilitating movement through the digestive tract (peristalsis) 

• Strengthens your core and particularly muscles supporting your spine

• Helps to loosen the joints at the hip and also releases stiffness.

Bhujangasana

Cobra pose increases flexibility of the spine while opening the chest. According to traditional yogic texts, this pose heals the body of disease and awakens the divine cosmic energy that fosters self-realization. It is a gentle backbend, most commonly performed as part of a Sun Salutation, in which it can be used as a less strenuous alternative to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana(Upward Facing Dog).

Benefits:

• Stimulates abdominal organs

• Helps relieve stress and fatigue

• Opens the heart and lungs

• Strengthens the Spine

Dhanurasana

Bow pose opens up the neck, shoulders, and abdomen. It improves flexibility in the back and encourages balance in the core and chest. This powerful pose works on all the parts of your back simultaneously. The balancing of the entire body on the lower abdomen makes the body look like a powerful and strong bow. This beautiful pose brings all the stretch that is need to the entire back and works wonders on the abdominal muscles. If you're not able to reach your feet with your hands, you can hold a strap or belt placed around the arches of your feet.

Benefits:

• Stretches the entire front of the body, ankles, thighs and groins, abdomen and chest, and throat, and deep hip flexors (psoas)

• Strengthens the back muscles

•  Expands the chest and increases the breathing capacity of the lungs.

• Releases stress in the body