 Step
by Step
Sit on the floor with your legs together
and extended in front of your torso. If your torso
is leaning back, it may be because tight hamstrings
are dragging the sitting bones toward the knees and
the back of the pelvis toward the floor. It may be
helpful to sit on a blanket or a bolster to lift the
pelvis.
A simple way to check alignment is to sit with your
back against a wall. The sacrum and the shoulder blades
should touch the wall, but not lower back or the back
of the head. Put a small rolled-up towel between the
wall and the lower back.
Sit towards the front of the sitting bones, and
adjust the pubis and tail bone equidistant from the
floor. Without hardening the belly, firm the thighs,
press them down against the floor (or your support),
rotate them slightly toward each other, and draw the
inner groins toward the sacrum. Flex your ankles,
pressing out through your heels.
To lengthen your front torso perpendicular to the
floor, think of energy streaming upward from the pubis
to the sternum, then down the back from the shoulders
to the tail bone. Then imagine the tail lengthening
into the floor.
Imagine your spine as the "staff" at the
vertical core of your torso, rooted firmly in the
Earth, the support and pivot of all you do. Hold the
pose for one minute or longer
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