USHTRASANA, THE CAMEL POSE

Kostas Tselios Yoga article for Kindred Spirit Magazine

Ushtrasana

The asana I am looking at today has a couple of names. First and most commonly used is Ushtrasana, the Camel pose. Ustra in Sanskrit means camel.

For some other practitioners and schools of Yoga, it is known as Dandasana, the pose of the pillar: Danda in Sanskrit means stick or pillar.

Anyway to keep things easy I will use the most common name, Ushtrasana. It is a very easy to master and perform this asana and it has an excellent effect on our body. The four main areas it benefits are your thighs, abdomen, ribcage, and throat.

Before discussing these benefits further, I would like to underline that this posture also has a special effect on the way we breath. Having said that, as yogis, we should constantly be aware of our breathing anyway, not only through our yoga practice but generally on our lives. Correct breathing is vital for healing and maintaining and improving our body, mind and finally spirit.

How to do this asana

Sit in the Vajrasana position for few seconds and relax your muscles, then lift your upper body and come up to your knees. Position your knees and feet to that they are the same width apart as your hips. Ensure that you are resting firmly and balance your weight equally on both knees.

Release any tension on the top of your feet, which will be resting on the yoga mat. Before you begin, keep your thighs, trunk and head vertical.

Then breath in and lift your hands up and extent your trunk, neck, head, while pushing your hands up as high as you can. Exhale, then bring your hand down and then lean backwards and carefully arch your back as far you can go.

Lift your right arm up and backwards and then grasp your right heel. Then be sure that your arm is absolutely straight as it will support your upper body like a pillar. Then try to relax the muscles of your trunk and square your shoulders.

After a few minutes, lift your other arm and grasp your left heal in the same way.

Finally, using your back muscles, gently try to push forwards your thighs, pelvis and abdomen. By doing so you will realize that your lower back (lumbar vertebrae) goes under compression, which could cause a little pain if done incorrectly; try not to overdo this and avoid any strain.

To finish, bring your head back and try to relax.

Tips and thinks to remember

In the case that you can’t reach your heals with your hands, bring your toes inwards, so that your heals are lifted few inches higher and might become easier to grasp.

And, if that is not enough help to perform the asana, beginners can try with one hand each time, for few seconds, until you can get rid of any stiffness, especially of the back muscles.

Remember that the entire weight of your body has to be supported at your knees. This can be painful on your kneecaps at the begging, but will be better and easier with the practice.

Do not bear any weight on your arms; they should support the arching of your shoulders, lifting and stretching to your chest and ribcage.

Although it is a very easy asana to perform, it is very difficult to maintain for long time. Increase the time you do this asana by few seconds every day and eventually you can aim for something like two minutes each side.

Throughout the time of the practice, keep releasing any tension around your back, shoulders, neck and arms. By doing so you’ll see how gravity helps to make things easier and pain free.

During the posture, breathing has to be soft as your chest and abdomen are stretched; any other type of breathing can create a strain to the associated muscles on that area.

Who should not perform this asana

People who suffer from lumbago and other illness related to the lower back should not perform this asana by themselves and without the guidance of a professional yoga teacher.

People who have an enlarged thyroid should be very careful and take care, as this posture accentuate the problem.

Benefits

The stretching needed is almost like a massage to your abdomen and chest. Most of the benefits we gain from this asana are to the internal organs associated to this part of the body.

Ailments which are a related to the kidneys, liver, intestine, pancreas may be helped by this posture.

We know that our stiff ribcage is responsible for the way we breath and this is actually very shallow. Ushtrasana has a special effect on our ribcage by expanding it and making it more supple, so we can breath deeper and fully.

As I said at the beginning, breathing fully and consciously can help us to see things more positively and lift our mood.

Keep smiling

Om

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