Exploring Your Solar Plexus Chakra

You may have come across the seven chakras;  maybe it was in yoga class, or during a meditation course. However, you might not know exactly what they are or how to work productively with your chakras. Chakras are energy centers in the subtle body that distribute the flow of prana or energy throughout your body. Starting at the base of the spine and working up to the crown of your head, these chakras influence your emotional and physical health.

Understanding the role and purpose of each chakra is a crucial first step in balancing your chakras and establishing a harmonious flow of energy. All of the seven chakras are interconnected; balancing one chakra will create change in the others. If you are lacking control in your life or struggling with self-confidence, turn your attention and become acquainted with your solar plexus chakra.

The Solar Plexus Chakra

Located in the upper abdomen two inches above the navel, the solar plexus chakra or manipura is the third of your seven chakras. The Sanskrit name translates to “shining gem,” a fitting name for this chakra. This chakra is the core of your personality and identity. When balanced, this chakra allows your authentic self to shine brightly.

The solar plexus chakra is located above the navel and extends up to the sternum. This forms your deepest connections with willpower, self-discipline, and self-esteem. The solar plexus chakra embodies your unlimited potential to transform thought or inertia into action.

The solar plexus chakra is the source of your personal power and confidence. This enables you to discover who you truly are and let your authenticity flourish. A balanced solar plexus chakra gives you the ability to overcome fear, master your thoughts, and make conscious choices.

The solar plexus chakra helps grow your confidence and vitality. This empowers you to follow your true path and create the life you want. When balanced, the solar plexus chakra allows you to seize your personal power, develop your authentic self, and take responsibility for your life.

Key Characteristics of the Solar Plexus Chakra

• Identity — As the core of your personality and identity, the solar plexus chakra allows you to bloom into your authentic self and discover who you truly are.

• Personal Power — The solar plexus chakra is the source of your personal power. This empowers you to take control of your thoughts, emotions, and actions.  

• Willpower — Working with your personal power, your solar plexus chakra gives you the willpower and self-discipline to get things done.

• Confidence — The solar plexus chakra is responsible for your self-esteem and how you view yourself. It also gives you the confidence to make decisions and feel self-assured.

• Intention & Action — Your solar plexus chakra gives you the power to transform your thought into action.

Solar Plexus Chakra Imbalance

The chakra system distributes the flow of prana or energy throughout your subtle body. Stress, illness, emotional upset, or conflict all can cause blockages or imbalances in your chakra system. All of the seven chakras are interconnected; when one chakra experiences a blockage or imbalance, it affects all the others. This disruption of energy can cause your mind, body, and spirit to suffer.

When the solar plexus chakra is imbalanced, it can bring a lack of control in your life as well as a loss of identity. Suppose you are working towards becoming a leader, improving your self-esteem, or trying to discover your authentic self. In that case, it is important that you open and balance your solar plexus chakra.

Underactive Solar Plexus Chakra

When a chakra is underactive, it means that it is experiencing a blockage or is not distributing the flow of energy, which can affect your overall well-being.

When your solar plexus chakra is underactive, you may be experiencing a sense of lack of control and purpose in life. When the solar plexus chakra becomes blocked, it often leads to emotional problems, ranging from feeling powerless to self-doubting.

How to recognize if your solar plexus chakra is underactive

• Lack of Confidence

• Low Self-Esteem

• Indecisive

• Helplessness

• Lack of Purpose

Overactive Solar Plexus Chakra

When a chakra is overactive, it means that it is distributing too much energy. It is working in overdrive and bringing imbalance to the chakra. When your solar chakra is overactive, it affects your overall well-being.

Too much of anything is never good for you. When your solar plexus chakra is overactive, you may be experiencing issues such as desiring control over others and judging too harshly. When the solar plexus chakra is overwhelmed with energy, it can overstimulate your system. You may feel especially critical and stubborn.

Signs of an overactive solar plexus chakra

• Desire for control

• Overly Critical

• Excessive Stubbornness

• Anger and Aggression

• Judgmental

How to Balance the Solar Plexus Chakra

Chakra balancing is the process of restoring the harmonious and balanced flow of prana or energy throughout the body. Your chakras are in constant fluctuation. Practicing chakra balancing and aligning is a regular and sometimes daily activity to explore. But how do you balance your solar plexus chakra?

There are many different ways to restore balance to your chakras. What works for you might not work for another. Make sure you find a way that works for you. Listen to your body and find the way that makes you comfortable.

Ways to Balance Your Solar Plexus Chakra

• Try new things

• Spend time in the sun

• Yoga for Solar Plexus Chakra

• Meditation for Solar Plexus Chakra

• Solar Plexus affirmations

• Aromatherapy for Solar Plexus Chakra

• Solar Plexus crystals

New Experiences

The solar plexus chakra is responsible for helping you discover your authentic self and find your true purpose in life. Getting outside of your comfort zone and experiencing new hobbies, cultures, and ideas can help open and bring balance to your solar plexus chakra.

Get Outside 

The solar plexus chakra is highly influenced by the element of fire. Getting outside on sunny days can help open and restore balance to your third chakra. Taking a walk, meditating, or simply sunbathing can allow your solar plexus energy to flow.

Yoga for Solar Plexus Chakra 

 Physical activity can be stimulating for your solar plexus chakra; yoga can particularly helpful in bringing balance to your solar plexus chakra. Yoga positions that focus on core strength are ideal for the solar plexus chakra. Below are yoga positions and movements that will help connect you to the energy of the solar plexus chakra.

• Full Boat Pose | Paripurna Navasana

• Firefly Pose | Tittibhasana

• Bharadvaja’s Twist | Bharadvajasana I

• Sun Salutations | Surya Namaskar

• Bow Pose | Dhanurasana

Mediation for Solar Plexus Chakra 

Meditation plays an important role in restoring balance to your chakras. Chakra meditation techniques are similar to traditional meditation techniques but focus on a specific area of the body. Below is a simple meditation technique to help aid in balancing your solar plexus chakra.

1. Sit with your shoulders back and spine straight. Relax your muscles as you close your eyes and breathe deeply. Inhale through your nose and exhale through the mouth.

2. Focus your attention on the location of your solar plexus chakra: your abdomen, a few inches above the navel.

3. Since the solar plexus chakra is tied to the color yellow, imagine a yellow glow above your navel, slowly expanding to the bottom of your rib cage and making the whole area warm and relaxed. Rest in this sensation for 3-5 minutes.

4. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes. You may follow with positive affirmations.

Solar Plexus Chakra Affirmations 

Affirmations are a positive way to heal negative programming that can be embedded in your subtle body. When balancing your solar plexus chakra, practice saying these phrases to yourself:

• I love and accept my house

• I am authentic

• I feel my own powers

• I am free to choose in any situation

• I direct my own life

Aromatherapy for Solar Plexus Chakra 

Aromatherapy can be a powerful and simple tool for opening and balancing your solar plexus chakra. Use essential oils with balancing aromas that promote feelings of confidence, courage, and motivation. Our Solar Plexus Chakra Essential Oil Blend is designed to aid in balancing and opening your solar plexus chakra. Apply our Solar Plexus Chakra Blend to your abdomen, two inches above the navel.

Solar Plexus Crystals 

 Each chakra is influenced by unique stones and their energetic properties. The solar plexus chakra is highly influenced by tiger’s eye. When balancing your solar plexus chakra, meditate with tiger’s eye or carry the stone with you to let the energetic properties help restore balance to the chakra. Our Roll-On Solar Plexus Chakra Essential Oil Blend has a tiger’s eye rollerball to aid in balancing your solar plexus chakra.

How to stimulate your vagus nerve to reduce stress and anxiety

What is the vagus nerve?

The vagus nerve is a long and powerful nerve that connects the brain and gut together. It runs from the brain, passing and contacting the tongue, vocal cords, throat, heart, lungs, diaphragm, liver, spleen, large intestine, small intestine, pancreas and kidneys, ending as a ball of nerve endings in the stomach. Hence why it’s often referred to as the ‘wandering nerve’!

The vagus nerve and our relaxation response

The vagus nerve largely contributes to the parts of the nervous system responsible for both the fight or flight and rest and digest responses. And as the vagus nerve connects with the lungs and diaphragm, means the way we breathe affects it. If the vagus nerve senses relaxed, slow breathing, it relays messages to the brain that everything is a-ok, and there’s no need to stress.

Whilst the science behind the nervous system runs deep and you could read about it for hours, there’s no substitute for first-hand experience. Simply put; we know what it feels like when we stimulate the vagus nerve, because we feel more relaxed. Think of the vagus nerve a little like your in-built de-stressor, available to engage with at any time. In a world where many of us are currently experiencing situations that could elicit anxiety and stress, it’s worth knowing how to work with the vagus nerve to bring your body into a state of balance, and empower yourself with your own healing tools.

Five ways to start working with the vagus nerve in yoga

1. Slow deep breathing

Breathing is one of the most simple and effective ways to stimulate the vagus nerve and elicit the relaxation response. Simply taking a slow, long and diaphragmatic breath is enough to encourage the vagus nerve to let the brain know it’s time to relax.

The vagus nerve runs through the throat and vocal cords too however, so specific yogic pranayama techniques like Ujjayi breath and Brahmari breath (humming-bee breath) can be even more powerful. To practice Brahmari breath, take a long breath in and then let out an audible ‘hummmm’ with your mouth closed as you exhale. 

2. Singing and chanting

Similar to the way Brahmari breath vibrates the vocal chords, singing and chanting have been shown to work with the vagus nerve to bring the body into a state of ‘rest and digest’. If singing makes you feel self-conscious and stressed, try singing in the shower or singing along with the radio in your car! Any song or mantra you enjoy can help to bring about this response, but the ‘Aum’ or ‘Om’ mantra is particularly effective for cultivating a sense of calm, and is said to send out purifying, positive vibrations to the environment around you. 

3. Cold therapy

Have you tried cold showers yet? Popularised by Wim Hof and his style of breath work coupled with cold showers, cold exposure has increasingly been found to help relieve anxiety and stress, stimulate the vagus nerve, and promote healthy mitochondria (the ‘engines’ within each of our cells). If a full-on cold shower isn’t possible, try splashing your face with cold water – especially when in the midst of a wave of worry or anxiety – as this has similar effects, or stepping outside for short amounts of time with minimal clothing in cold weather. 

• If you want to take this further, combine the cold showers and breathing techniques with yoga targeting the core in our Strong core radiant health program.

4. Meditation

Whether it’s a guided meditation session, or a regular routine of sitting and watching your breath, meditation has been shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system by slowing the heart rate and breathing, relaxing the muscles of the abdomen, and slowing brainwave activity.

All of these aspects signal to the vagus nerve that the body is in a relaxed and safe state, thus sending messages to the brain to let it know it’s ok to relax. Positive, loving thoughts are also highly beneficial for vagus nerve activity, so try the Buddhist Metta Bhavna or ‘Loving Kindness’ meditation to start with.

5. Gut Heath

The brain and gut are in constant communication via the vagus nerve. Which is why gut health and mental health are so intrinsically linked. In fact, research shows that when it comes to people with food sensitivities, anxiety, gut problems, brain fog and depersonalisation, a poorly functioning vagus nerve is often at play. 

Having a good balance of healthy gut bacteria has been shown in numerous studies to positively affect the vagus nerve and contribute to better brain health. If you suffer with digestive issues – reflect upon whether these bouts of indigestion or stomach issues tend to be accompanied by mood swings or brain fog. If the answer is ‘yes’, it’s time to take greater care of your gut, as over 80% of our immune system is actually located within it!

Taking a good quality probiotic can help improve gut bacteria, as can including more pre and probiotics in your meals – think sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha or kefir. Practices like occasional fasting, ensuring you’re not eating too late at night, and cutting down on refined sugar can also have a positive impact upon gut health, thus reducing anxiety and stress too!

Yoga for better sleep

Yoga is a gentle and restorative way to wind down your day. A national survey found that over 55% of people who did yoga found that it helped them get better sleep. Over 85% said yoga helped reduce stress. You can use supportive props like bolsters, blankets, and blocks to make poses comfortable so that you can stay in the pose for longer and continue to breathe.

Your breath is key to be able to relax in these poses. Breath in yoga is equally important—if not more important—as the physical pose. Use a gentle and calming yoga breath technique called Ujjayi Breath, also known as Ocean Breath or Victorious Breath. Inhale deeply through the nose. With your mouth closed, exhale through your nose while constricting the back of your throat as if you are saying "ha" but keep your mouth closed. This exhalation should sound like the waves of the ocean (or like Darth Vader from Star Wars). Use this slow and steady breath to soothe yourself in each of these poses.

Practice these yoga poses right before bedtime and stay in them about 3 to 5 minutes each. Use your Ocean Breath in each pose, with the exception of Corpse Pose, where your breath returns to normal.

These seven restorative yoga poses relieve tension and stress at the end of the day. The more that you practice these poses regularly, the more you likely you can get a good night’s rest.

Best yoga poses for assisting sleeping patterns:

1. Wide-Knee Child’s Pose (Balasana)

2. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)

3. Standing Half Forward Bend (Ardha Uttanasana) at the wall

4. Reclining Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana)

5. Legs Up The Wall Pose (Viparita Karani )

6. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

7. Legs on a Chair Pose

Other ways yoga can assist you to sleep better?

• Yoga improves mindfulness, increases melatonin levels, and helps reduce sleep disturbance.

• The deep breathing technique is extremely relaxing and it induces sleep.

• The key to possessing proper sleep is regular exercise with a combination of yoga.

• Yoga and meditation help us de-stress.

• It relaxes our nervous system.

• It revives our body, makes us feel good, and provides us with a relaxing effect.

Yoga is good in many aspects of life as it helps improve our overall health and helps us attain a better and calming mind. If we indulge ourselves with the practice of yoga, then physical and mental stress are reduced and we stay in a happy, positive state of mind helping us to be mindful, and responsive.

Yogi's Guide to Winter

In the dark, wet, windy and cold days of winter it can be a real struggle to get up and get onto our yoga mats. At this time of year the idea of hibernating until spring grows ever more appealing! What we do know is that a regular yoga practice is one of your best defences against illness and remedies when a bug does strike.

It is important that we change with the seasons just as nature does by adapting our daily habits, yoga practice and food choices. During the winter , the energy of the Earth and its creatures is drawn inward. We can use this time for restoration and introspection, just as many plants and animals use it for hibernation. In preparation for the spring, it is important to slow down and rejuvenate.

Here are our top Winter survival tips:

WINTER YOGA POSES

The winter months are notorious for colds and flus, so poses that open the chest, throat and sinuses will aid in improving congestion and supporting your respiratory organs. The following poses are metabolically invigorating and help to warm the kidneys and clear phlegm.

1. Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskara):

This invigorating invocation to your yoga practice helps build heat in the body. 

2. Fish Pose (Matsyasana)

This supine backbend/inversion opens the throat and chest. 

3. Bow Pose (Dhanurasana):

Open your chest with this backbend. 

4. Shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana):

This supported inversion helps with stagnation of lymph. Hold for at least eight breaths

5. Locust Pose (Salabhasana):

This “baby backbend” opens the chest while strengthening the back. 

6. kapalabhati breathing,

a practice that builds internal heat and eliminates mucus from the respiratory tract. These are rapid, sharp exhales, passive inhales, and a snapping of your lower abdomen. You can start with cycles of 30 breaths and gradually increase up to 100, for 3-5 rounds.

WINTER FOODS- warming the body and soul

If your natural tendency is to eat warmer and heartier meals during the winter, you are on the right track! In response to cold weather, the body constricts the pores on your skin and the superficial connective tissue to prevent heat loss. This directs heat away from the peripheral tissues and into the body’s core. Because of this, your appetite becomes stronger in winter.

However, although we are designed to eat more in the winter, the selection of foods is still important. Try to pick foods that will keep your immune system vibrant and that minimize congestion.

• Eat a plentiful amount of soups/stews, grains (oatmeal, rice, barley, quinoa, etc.), healthy oils (coconut, avocado, olive, ghee) and cooked seasonal root vegetables (kohlrabi, turnips, rutabaga, celeriac, carrots and turnips). Avoid vata-provoking foods, such as salads and cold drinks.

• Drink warm teas. It is beneficial to start and end the day with a glass of warm lemon water to aid with digestion.

• Be sure to eat a hearty, warm breakfast to break the fast of your night’s sleep, feed your digestive fire and lubricate your bodily tissues. Oatmeal, porridge, or cream of wheat are all good options.

• Warming spices to include to any and all meals: cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, fennel, cumin, coriander and nutmeg.

Life Style Choices

• Try doing some kind of invigorating movement –yoga or other exercise in the morning to boost immunity and mood and kick-start the movement of lymph. This helps prevent build-up of mucus and congestion.

• Start your day by 7:00 a.m. This might be a bit later than you are used to, but Winter encourages us to hibernate a little longer at night. Remember that Winter is a natural time for resting. So at night, do peaceful and calming activities that promote a sense of stillness. Try to go to bed earlier than you are used to.

• Use a warm-mist humidifier at night to help keep your sinuses clear. Have you tried a neti pot? During winter I use once a day to irrigate and moisten your nasal passages.

• Soak up as much sunshine as you can by sitting by a window or taking a winter walk. Sunlight helps your body produce vitamin D (which is crucial to ward of illness), relaxes the muscles, combats seasonal mood disorders, and aids the body in maintaining healthy sleep cycles

The seasons come and go. Winter turns to spring, and autumn into winter. We go through times in our lives full of prosperity, and others are in poverty. As the world changes around us, our time on the mat can be a consistent source of comfort and grace.

Knowing you can count on your yoga practice promotes mental clarity, a sense of security, and a healthy muladhara chakra. Keep it up. No matter what is changing in your life or in the world around you. Yoga is peace, and peace is the language of the world.

Celebrating the Full Moon - Yogi style

As you probably know, the moon and its cycles influence our mind and body, from the mood we are in to our quality of sleep, but did you know it can also impact your yoga practise? Here is our guide to harnessing the energy of the moon, syncing your practise with this inspiring lunar cycle and using the power of the full moon to your advantage.

A full moon is one of the most exciting lunar cycles because it represents a boost in energy and is a moment for celebration. In Ashtanga practice, yogis abstain from doing yoga on full moon days because this is one of the most advanced forms of yoga and therefore the risk of injury is greater and so they use full moon days as rest days. All other types of yoga are encouraged during this moon phase.

Why is the full moon celebrated?

Every month, the moon starts a new cycle around the earth. A moon cycle begins with the new moon, when the moon stands between the earth and the sun and is therefore invisible for the human eye. It then goes into a waxing phase until it reaches the full moon - the pinnacle of the moon cycle. After the full moon the moon retreats into its waning phase until it all starts again with the new moon.

The full moon is celebrated since thousands of years in ancient cultures for its magic, mystery and special energy. It represents a time to gather with community, release unwanted energies and honor what we have created since the new moon. 

Full moons are great gateways to create change in our life, they are powerful tools for letting go of unwanted energy, cleansing and releasing what doesn’t serve us anymore. The full moon amplifies. Just as the moon is shone upon my the sun, our emotions and energies are brought to light so that we are able to work with them. 

Astrologically, full moons are a time to take action. When the moon is its brightest and most active, we get inspired to do the necessary work that is needed to manifest dreams into action. The light of the full moon serves as guidance where we need to focus and shift our energy. 

To harness the beautiful power of the full moon, moon rituals and ceremonies can be used as a powerful tool to self-reflect and create necessary change in your life. Moon ceremonies, dances and rituals have been around for many centuries. Evidence of moon worship has been uncovered at archaeological digs all over the world, from the ancient Celts to the Egyptians. The most common symbol was the lunar disc - a flat, shiny figure worn as a medallion or as part of a crown, meant to symbolize the moon and associated things. But some full moon rituals are still alive today.

The following rituals of ancient cultures around the globe can provide you with an idea and inspiration for your own moon ceremony, to use the magical power of the moon.  

What Does the Full Moon Mean for Yogis?

A full moon gives yogis the opportunity to refresh, rejuvenate and release any built up tension or stress. Practising yoga during a full moon and aligning your energy with this lunar phase will allow you to feel grounded and fulfilled. The evening is the best time to practise and this will also allow you to reap the benefits as you wind down before bed.

Create your own full moon ritual

Hopefully the rituals and ceremonies from above have given you some inspiration for your own full moon ritual. Celebrating the full moon can be a very powerful way for your own self-development. We learn to put our own life into context with the cycles of nature. The full moon always marks a time of death, change and re-birth. It is a perfect time to let go of the things that are holding you back from living your best life and reaching your fullest potential. 

In the 48-hour window surrounding a full moon, you can express gratitude, meditate, pray and work on your manifestations. Create a sacred space for yourself by taking a candle-lit bath and do some journaling or celebrate with others, creating a sharing circle, moving, meditating and manifesting together. 

Why we twist in yoga

Twists, what are they good for?

Spine mobility and back health

Twists rotate the spine and stretch the muscles of the back. This helps to restore and retain the spine’s natural range of motion. If we don’t employ our natural range of motion we run the risk of our joints hardening and fusing. The surrounding supportive soft tissue can also become short and dysfunctional. By extending the muscles to their full length regularly with twists once or twice a day we can help to prevent this.

Energising

In twists you work with the spine and the action of ‘lengthening’ is to create space between the vertebrae. When there’s a lack of space our spine tends to slump or get stuck and our energy levels drop. Through twisting we lengthen the spine and get space between the bones. Then our energy can flow better. Twists give us an instant energy lift and decompress the vertebrae in a safe healthy way.

Comprehensive and neutralizing Twists are neutralizing poses so they’re good to include if you’ve been doing lots of strong back bends or forward bends. Twists incorporate the center of our body, working the abdominal, obliques, the muscles that support the movement of our spine, our shoulders, pelvis, neck etc… that is when you are doing them correctly.

Aid digestion

Twists are commonly known to aid digestion. It is important to realize what that actually means! Twists are great for creating movement in and around our organs (mobility and motility). So in terms of helping our food being moved along.. twists are great. 

Are twists detoxifying?

BKS Iyengar said that twists are detoxifying because of the squeeze and soak action. The organs of detoxification and elimination are compressed pushing out old blood and so then when we release the twist fresh blood can flow in. This idea is often passed on in the yoga industry but there is some healthy debate on this.

Twists do affect our mobility (movement of organs in relation to each other) and our motility (movement within an organ). However, a number of factors are involved in stimulation of our organs. It would be safe to say that twists help to stimulate our organs, including our organs of elimination which in turn can help stimulate our metabolism and rate of excretion.

So maybe twists aren’t really “wringing out the internal organs” but it can be a helpful metaphor for when we practice – much in the same way as backbends don’t literally opening your heart!

However, they do stimulate circulation, creating heat, releasing tension in the muscles of the spine, abdomen and rib cage, which has a knock-on effect of helping the other systems in the body work effectively.  

Also, while I don’t want to make claims that I can’t back up, we can get stuck trying to find the (Western) medical evidence for yoga benefits. These can be difficult to find as there is not a lot of large-scale research done in this area.

What kinds of twists are there?

All twist poses can generally be categorized into seated, standing and reclining. Twists are also often variations on ‘regular’ poses. Like Parivrtta Utkatasana (Twisted Chair Pose) and Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose

• Reclining twist
  In reclining twists the upper body is stabilized and so most of the twist happens in the lower spine by rotating the pelvis and legs. Here it’s important to keep your core stable and make sure your shoulders remain grounded.

• Seated and standing twists
  Alignment is even more important in our seated and standing twists. Grounding and lengthening should be the initial actions in performing these twists. It’s always important to engage the abdominals when doing seated or standing twists to help stabilize the pelvis and keep support in the lower back. The pelvis grounds as the spine lengthens and moves upwards (seated twists like Half Lord of the Fishes and Bharadvaja’s Twist) or forwards (in standing twists like Extended Triangle Pose).

Alignment is very important so it’s essential to know how to do them correctly.

How can we twist safely?

• Inhale and lengthen the spine first– In seated twists, ground through the sitting bones. If you experience rounding in the lower back here, sit up on a block or blankets so you maintain the natural length and curves of the back.

• Twist from the lower spine up – When twisting be aware that different parts of the spine have different range of mobility. The lower part, the lumbar, rotates only around 5 degrees, the thoracic spine rotates approx 35 degrees whereas the cervical spine has the most mobility with around 50 degrees. These are generalizations but give an idea of the relative mobility. (pg 34 in Yoga Anatomy, Kaminoff)

• To avoid the neck doing all the work involve the whole spine by starting the twist from the lower spine working up, with your neck turning last. This might mean your twist looks less ‘twisty’ than it used to – that’s fine!

Tip for intensifying your twists

Twists are good for the back but they are also great for stretching the muscles of the shoulders and the chest. To intensify this you can bind in the pose – or use a prop such as a wall or the back of a chair  – for example pressing your right hand against the edge of the chair or wall as you twist to your left.