Pose of the Month - Clam Pose

For Clam Pose sit with legs extended out in front of the body and feet are flexed with toes pointing toward the ceiling. Try to have a straight back and inhale the arms up overhead, slowly exhale pulling the chest toward the knees and reaching the fingers towards the toes, if able, grab onto toes.

This pose requires patience as it is not one most people can easily do. As I say in class, "we are reaching our fingers TOWARDS our toes, if we are only able to reach our knees, that's okay!" The key in this pose is to use the breath ti take you farther, releasing and relaxing into the forward bend and allowing the back of the legs (the hamstrings) and the lower back to stretch. Try holding the pose for 3 breaths (long inhales and exhales), then 5, and 10 breaths. See if you can practice patience in moving farther in the pose.