Blooming Flower Posture

Posted on March 13, 2012
in Yoga
by Maggie Verderame

Looking for a simple, sweet heart opener? Or, maybe a way to incorporate Spring into your yoga practice with your kids? This posture feels good in big and little bodies, alike!

When practicing, remember to keep your breathing steady, fluid, and, deep. Also keep your knees relaxed and resting toward the floor, if you’re sitting with crossed legs. If there’s inner-leg tension, simply rest a pillow/folded blanket under each knee. If your knees are tight, do this with the legs extended out like a letter ‘V’. … Take all of these directions with a grain of salt for young children; their bodies are resilient in different ways than ours,
and, they will express their yoga postures uniquely.

A great visual and way to add some fun to this posture for kids, is to think about reaching your heart up to the sun, like a flower drinking it all in while stretching your elbow petals out to show off your bright colors. You might consider your seat your roots, keeping it grounded as if you were drawing up nutrients from the earth.

Have fun with this one! Bloom brightly! Grow, flower, grow!

DIRECTIONS:

Sit comfortably – perhaps with legs crossed like a pretzel.
Clasp fingers and place hands on the back of your head, with elbows pointed out to the sides.
Breathe in deeply and expand chest and gaze upward while rolling shoulders down and back.
Exhale and curl up, rolling spine so that the chin touches the chest … like a sleepy flower.
Repeat breath cycle growing toward the sun with the inhales, and bowing toward the earth on the exhales as many times as feels good to you.