Developing Back Flexibility Through Yoga

Yoga has grown to be one of my favorite activities. It is incredibly helpful in maintaining a healthy body and mind! This week during yoga we focused on the flexibility of the back. I had previously identified this area as one of my strengths as I am able to do many poses that the rest of the class finds difficult. The following is a picture of me doing the bridge pose. This pose has helped me develop my upper body strengths as well as back flexibility!

I undertook a new challenge when completing a two part motion. In the first motion, I complete the candle stick (shown in the image below). After holding those pose for about a minute and a half, I bring my legs down so that my knees are beside my head and my feet touching the floor. This pose takes a great amount of back flexibility and is very difficult. During my first classes I was unable to complete this pose; however, through committing to yoga and practicing this pose at home, I can now easily roll into this pose!