Often times I tend to think of the vernal equinox as the new year. With all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it never feels like the right time for resolutions. But after a couple of weeks or months of cold hibernating weather, I often find the time to really reflect on the previous year and determine what has served me and what has not. Sometimes we host a fire ceremony where we write down that which no longer serve us on paper and burn these items with the intention of losing them for the new year.

As I begin to come out of hibernation, somewhere in the middle of march, my mind tends to shift and it is as if there is more space for new ideas and new growth. It is an expansive time of year. And this is what Chinese Philosophy has written over the years. The Spring is the season of the wood element where everything is expanding and pushing through the earth, staking its claim for its season of growth. In order to do this, one must be firmly rooted on the earth, feet firmly planted on the ground.

One of my favorite things to do is walk barefoot on the earth and as soon as it is warm enough I remove my shoes and feel the earth beneath my feet. It is empowering and energizing. My recommendation is to practice Tadasana as often as you can this spring outside. Tadasana is a pose you can practice anytime anywhere.

Return to your beginner’s mind and enjoy this video of John Schumacher, teaching Tadasana or Mountain Pose from his home studio in Maryland.

Sara Miles Pope Agelasto is a RYT and the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of iHanuman.com. Visit her iHanuman Teacher Page to learn more.

Baddha Konasana is a beginning hip opening pose. For those of us who spend a great deal of time at a desk or driving a car, this pose will be challenging. It is recommended to sit on some height to encourage the pelvis to stay upright instead of curve backwards which common for those of us who have tight hips, hamstrings and week stomach or lower back muscles. Also we want to get some height under our sitbones, so that the knees can fall lower than the hips. If there is pain in the hips or knees, place a blanket under your thighs to allow the hips and groin to release. Lengthen the spine up, reaching through the center of your heart and out through the crown of the head. Try to bring the souls of your feet close to your perineum. And if your spine is long and there is no backward tilt to the pelvis, try folding forward, extending your heart forward.

There are several variations of this pose. You can find a step-by-step outline of the Basic Pose through Yoga Journal’s Basics Column.

Kira Ryder of Lulu Bandha’s in Ojai, California offers this video of the Yin Version of the pose.

We hope you enjoy Baddha Konasana. Click on the images below to see more photos from these photographers.
Happy Birthday, Peter! We wish you many more. And thank you for helping to build the iHanuman Bridge.

Open the heart and stretch the belly with Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose. Back bends stimulate the Kidney Energy and invigorate the heart. Back bends can counteract the effects of depression. During the winter, many people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder, SAD, because of the decrease in light. Back bends, when practiced correctly, elevate our mood. This gentle back bend improves digestion and creates flexibility in the spine. Shiva Rea offers a wonderful review of this beginning back bend in her Yoga Journal Basics column, reminding us to extend through and use the strength in the legs and the back, instead of exerting ourselves to gain height and risk over-arching in the cervical spine.

Here is a video created by Yoga Vidya which shows an introduction to several Bhujangasana Variations .

Below are some of our favorite photographs of this pose. Please click on the photos to give credit to the photographers. For further exploration of Cobra Pose as well as other backbends, you may consider downloading Erich Schiffmann’s video, Backbends.

Lately, I have readdressed a sacro-iliac injury with the help of  Gary Kraftsow’s Viniyoga Therapy for Lower Back, Sacrum and Hips. One of the key practices in the sequence for Lower Back pain is called Dwi Pada Pitham which is a variation of Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, which is practiced by keeping the arms palms down at the sides and inhaling to lift the pelvis off of the ground into Bridge Pose and exhaling to lower each vertebrae back down onto the mat. After practicing this several times, on the inhale, lift the hips and pelvis off of the ground and at the same time raise the arms overhead and again exhale and lower the arms and hips synchronistically back down to the floor. The Viniyoga tradition of yoga incorporates the use of the breath with each inhale and exhale specifically synchronized with each movement of the body. This practice has helped to stabilize the pelvis and eliminate the chronic lower back pain in the sacro-iliac. In fact, in a workshop with Gary last spring I experienced Zero pain in my lower back for the first time since receiving the injury over 10 years ago.

iHanuman Yoga Teacher, Lillah Schwartz, of Lighten Up Yoga in North Carolina has created a series of videos to improve posture. The third in this series is a version of Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, or Chatush Padasana,  Four – Footed Pose, as it is called in the Iyengar Tradition. You can watch this video here:

And Boulder Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Richard Freeman Teaches Teachers how to assist students in Bridge Pose during his Teacher Intensive in November 2009

Additionally, take a look at a few of our favorite Bridge poses from across the web and to learn more about the photographers, please click on the photographs and tell them that you like their photo. Like us, we are sure they would love to hear from you.