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Yoga For You
Ray Madigan and Shelley Choy
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Standing Eagle Pose
This difficult balance posture requires practice and determination. It brings strength to the ankles and suppleness to the shoulders. It relieves cramps in the calf muscles:
Stand with feet together. Bend your knees, maintaining your balance on the left foot and crossing your right thigh over the left. With an exhalation, entwine your right foot behind your left calf.
Bend your elbows and raise your arms to chest level. Rest your right elbow on the front of your left upper arm above the elbow joint. Then move your right hand back to the right and the left hand back to the left and join the palms.
The left arm will now be entwined around the right arm. Your thumbs will point toward your face.
Breathe evenly through your nose and relax your facial muscles as you lift your elbows and move your forearms away from your body.
Hold the pose for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
Learn to balance without shaking and to breathe evenly.
Ray Madigan and
Shelley Choy are certified Iyengar Yoga teachers and co-direct the Manoa Yoga Center at Manoa Marketplace. Visit
www.manoayoga.com or call 382-3910. Manoa Yoga Center, the authors and the Star-Bulletin take no responsibility for any injury arising from the practice of these yoga postures. Readers should seek a doctor's approval before commencing this yoga practice.