Featured Pose: Eagle Pose Arms (Garudasana)

by Baxter and Nina

This pose from our office yoga series is a wonderful stretch for your middle and upper back and for your neck, which are areas where you may hold a lot of tension. Even thought some of us who are slumped over our computers appear to have wideness in the upper back, you may have noticed there is still quite a bit of tension there. The pose also increases mobility in your shoulders and releases tension from certain parts of your shoulder joint. It moves your shoulder blades on your rib cage into upward rotation, encouraging an important, functional movement for healthy shoulders and arms. It may also build strength in your pectoralis as well as some of the other chest muscles.

Because your hands are typically at elbow height or lower, raising your hands toward eye level helps reverse the effects of gravity (such as, swelling or stiffness of hands and wrists). And if you’ve been hiking all day in the heat with your hands at your sides, the effects of raising your hands to eye level are even more dramatic.

Although it’s a relatively simple pose, that can be done anywhere in almost any attire, it’s a strong, distinct stretch that engages your mind, bringing your attention to the present moment. It’s an excellent pose to do while traveling, and you can do it sitting as well as standing, even in an airplane seat. We’re showing the basic pose today, but you can do variations of this pose by moving your clasped hands either to the left or right of center.

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

•    weak but tight upper backs
•    limited mobility or range of motion in the shoulders
•    rotator cuff injuries (for some people)
•    tight neck muscles
•    upper body strength (in particular, weakness in the chest)
•    numbness in the hands, such as in carpal tunnel syndrome

Instructions: Start by standing in Mountain Pose with your feet hips-width apart. Inhale and bring your arms out in front of you until they are parallel to the floor, with your palms facing one another. Cross your arms over one another, with the right arm on top and your elbow joints stacked on top of each other. Now bend your arms at the elbows to 90 degrees. Bring your left (bottom) hand across your face and bring your fingers onto the palm side of the right (top) hand. Have your thumbs pointing toward your face if possible.

If you can’t clasp your hands, keep your wrists straight up and your palms facing away from each other. If you can’t even cross your arms over your elbows, bend your right elbow and use your left hand to grab onto your right upper arm. Then use your left hand to encourage your right elbow toward the left side of your chest.

Now lift your elbows up until your upper arms are parallel with the floor. Keep your shoulders relaxed away from your ears. If you wish, push your elbows forward an inch or so away from your chest. You will probably feel an increase in sensation between your shoulder blades. Breathe into that space to enhance the feeling of opening your back body. Look straight forward and keep your head and neck even and in line with your spine.

You can also push up with your bottom elbow as you push down with your top elbow and you’ll feel additional muscle groups around the shoulders strengthening and stretching.

For the most benefits, stay in the pose for 90 seconds, if you can. When you’re done, carefully release your arms. Bring your arms to sides and let go of the tension in your arms before moving on to the second side.

Cautions: This is a relatively safe pose. However, if the pose causes pain in any of your joints, try one of the modifications. If that doesn’t work, talk to your teacher for advice. People with a history of shoulder dislocation should be careful with this pose (as with all poses the involve the shoulders).