Benefits

• Encourages movement and mobility in your spine and vertebrae.
• Massages, stretches, and tones your internal organs.
• Improves your digestion.
• Stretches your chest, shoulders, lower back, hips, middle spine and your upper back.
• Alleviates pain or stiffness in your lower back, spine and hips.

Cautions

• Severe lower back problems
• Pregnancy (more comfortable with pillow between knees)
• Internal organ surgery

Steps

1. Begin by lying on your back. Exhale as you press your lower back lightly into the floor.
2. With your abdominal muscles contracted, inhale as you bend your knees and lift your feet off the floor.
3. Exhale, as you open your arms out to the side in one straight line with your shoulders, palms facing down for support. Continue to support your spine with your core muscles. Bring your feet and knees together.
4. As you inhale lift your heels slightly higher than your knees.
5. Exhale as you slowly lower both legs to the left to the floor keeping your feet and knees stacked. Knees should be at the level of your hips and your heels resting about a foot away from the buttocks.
6. Continue to breath slowly as you let your head turn naturally to the right. Encourage your right shoulder to root down maintaining the twist through the upper spine. Having arms at or just below your shoulder level will increase the ease of rooting the shoulders down. Hold for at least 20 seconds.
7. To exit, press both hands into the floor at shoulder level and contract your abdominal muscles. As you inhale lift your knees and feet up over your chest. Hold onto your knees with both hands.
8. As you exhale, draw your thighs down into your chest as you lift your head and chest into the thighs and knees. Avoid lifting your shoulders as the head rises to the knees.
9. Lower your head and shoulders to the floor and contract your abdominals as you open the arms again to twist to the other side. Repeat entrance into and exit out of twist on the right side.

Modifications

• If the knees do not rest easily on the ground, place your knees and feet on a large pillow.
• If the twist feels too deep for your lower back, first try placing a pillow between your knees or move your knees below the height of your hips.
• To deepen your twist, place your right hand on your left knee (closest hand) and press your knees down. To increase further, pull your knees up towards the under arm, but continue to keep your right shoulder from lifting off the ground.