Day 23: Camel Pose

Ustrasana, Camel Pose

Oh Camel pose. Camel pose is the deepest backward bend in the series! This is one of those postures that you might have a challenging relationship with. Deep backward bending postures can be very disorienting when you first start to practice them. It is normal to come out of Camel pose and feel dizzy, nauseous, sad, angry, blissful, euphoric, etc. There is an entire spectrum of feelings from this one, which is very cool when you think about it. It takes tremendous bravery to practice this posture, because you never quite know what you are going to experience until you are doing it. We promise that the more you practice it, the blissful and euphoric experiences will begin to far outnumber the unpleasant experiences.

Benefits of Camel Pose Include:

• Relieves back problems by compressing spine

• Stimulates nervous system

• Improves neck flexion

• Flushes blood through kidneys

• Promotes elimination of toxins

• Opens shoulders, rib cage, lungs, and digestive system

• Strengthens back and shoulder muscles

• Invigorates and improves flexibility of neck and spine–especially thoracic spine

• Extends throat, thyroid gland, and parathyroid glands

• Helps cure constipation by stretching abdominal organs

• Strengthens the abdominal muscles

• Develops tremendous willpower and concentration