Half Tortoise Pose

Purposes and Benefits:

• Aids in relaxing body and mind
• Helps relieve digestion problems and constipation
• Assists in regulating sleep-wake cycle by stimulating pituitary gland
• Stretches spine, hips, and gluteal muscles
• Increases flexibility in hips
• Boosts blood circulation to brain
• Extends lower part of lungs and aids in augmenting lung capacity
• Strengthens abdomen
• Tones thighs
• Improves flexibility of deltoids, latissimus dorsi muscles, scapula, and triceps

How to Do:
(NOTE: If you feel tightness in the hips or lower back, you may need more time before you can relax in this pose.)

• Enter kneeling position: sit on heels with feet and knees together
• Raise arms above head and bring palms together with thumbs crossed
• Maintain straightened arms and spine throughout pose
• Inhale while stretching up
• Exhale slowly while bending forward in a straight line that spans distance between tailbone and fingertips
• Stretch forward all the way until forehead and sides of hands touch floor
• Engage arms and straighten elbows so that wrists, elbows, and triceps lift away from floor
• Keep sliding fingertips forward
• To deeply stretch spine, do these simultaneously: Reach buttocks back to heels; Keep using abdominal muscles (Eventually, buttocks will touch heels throughout pose)
• With arms stretching forward and hips reaching back into heels, bring chin forward and away from chest
• Relax shoulders, breathe, and feel the deep stretch along your back
• Hold pose for 20 seconds
• Exit pose slowly by moving hips back toward heels and by maintaining straightened arms and spine
• When moving in and out of pose, use abdominal muscles to avoid rounding and buckling spine