Posture focus time!
Eagle pose (Garurasana) is the last posture of the warm-up before party time. We have separately warmed up the spine, the arms, and the legs in the previous postures and now we are bringing it all together before our first water break. This posture is all about compression and joint flexibility/mobility, and the two are in a very committed and perfectly harmonious relationship.
Garurasana works deeply into the 12 largest joints of the body: Starting from the bottom and working up we are targeting the ankles, the knees, the hips, the elbows, the wrists, and the shoulders (encompassing the deltoids and the scapula). Through the intense twisting into the arms and legs in this posture we are deliberately compressing into the joints, creating a pressure which when released will allow for fresh blood to flow back into them. As such eagle pose maintains healthy joint lubrication.
This healthy compression targets not only the major joints of the body but also some of its internal organs: Eagle pose particularly stimulates the reproductive system and the kidneys improving sexual vitality and fertility. It is an excellent posture for urinary tract infections in women and prostate health for men. It improves the immune system through stimulation of the lymphatic system and helps to treat and heal cellulite and varicose veins.
Muscle-wise we are targeting and strengthening the large muscles of the back: the latissimus dorsi and the trapezius and pulling down the elbows towards the floor allows us to work into the deltoids. We are also strengthening the leg muscles toning the calves, thighs and hip muscles.
And last but by no means least, Garurasana also really improves our focus as it is essentially a balancing posture. Because we need to use many different parts of our brain at once we tend to quieten the 'monkey mind' or 'mind chatter' that can sometimes be an all-too-present feature of our yoga practice. Eagle pose also requires crossing the body’s mid-line, which activates both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously and thereby improves our focus and concentration. This in turn prepares us for standing head to knee which is the ultimate concentration posture. It is all so perfectly sequenced!
In conclusion it is probably more than fair to say that there are a LOT of great things happening in this posture so enjoy it! Try to keep the weight in your heels as much as possible, the chest lifted, focus on that one spot in the mirror, pull down on the elbows, breathe, smile (!) and sit down low, low, low... your body loves you for it! :-)
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