Supine Spinal Twist aka Supta Matsyendrasanaa is a great way to stretch, restore and detox the body. Hang out in this posture as long as feel right and work on letting go of anything that is not serving you. Supine translates to lying face upwards and this detoxifying twist is easily accessible for all levels.
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Step 1
Start by laying on your back with the legs extended out in front of you and the arms alongside the body.
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Step 2
On an exhale, hug the knees into the chest and clasp your hands around the front of them.
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Step 3
Use the left hand to grab ahold of the front of the right knee as you extend the left leg back out onto the ground. Extend the right arm out on the floor at shoulder height. Palm of the hand is facing up or down. Facing up opens and stretches your shoulder more. Facing allows your hand to act as a lever to deepen twist.
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Step 4
Shift the hips slightly to the right. Place your left hand to the outer right knee.
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Step 5
On an exhale, gently drop the right knee over to the left.
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Step 6
Turn and soften the gaze over the right fingertips. Both shoulders should remain on the earth and away from the ears.
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Step 7
Keep breathing deeply in this posture and allow gravity to drop that knee closer and closer to the earth. Keep trying to lengthen the spine by energetically drawing the right hip towards the front wall with every inhale and twisting a little deeper with every exhale. * Modifications: Taking a passive version of this pose is highly recommended. Forget about all of the alignment cues and just breath and relax deeply into the posture.
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Step 8
To release, exhale, extend the right leg to meet the left and bring the arms alongside the body. Repeat on the opposite side. When you are done both sides gentle hug the knees into the chest.
- Stretches the back muscles and glutes
- Hydrates the spinal disks
- Lengthens and realigns the spine
- Detoxifies the body
- Stimulates the digestive organs
- Spinal, knee, back or hip injury
