17-Jul-2011

Flex Ability

Cat Cow Pose

Yogis teach that a flexible spine is the key to youth and health. One great yoga posture for women (and men) to do every day is Cat Cow Pose. Your spine takes abuse on a daily level from sitting, lifting, bending and poor posture, plus the forces of gravity. Cat Cow Pose helps decompress the spinal discs, increasing the flow of fluids and nutrition to these spongy “shock-absorbers”—giving you a more elastic and durable spine, and a pathway to a more youthful and energetic body.

Here’s how it goes: Come onto your hands and knees, hands shoulder-width apart, knees about 12 inches apart, heels touching. Inhale as you arch your head and neck up and back, at the same time elongating and arching the spine downward. Exhale and reverse the posture by bringing your head down, chin towards your chest and arching your back upward—like a cat stretching. Do this for 3-5 minutes a day. In the words of Yogi Bhajan, the exercise “polishes all of your vertebrae” and “makes your eyes glitter with a special light.”

Video of Cat Cow Pose

Recommended: Awakening the Spine: Yoga to Restore Health, Vitality and Energy by Vanda Scaravelli