Lying on your back, place your feet flat on the floor, a comfortable distance away from the hips
Place your arms next to the ribcage. You can either bend your elbows 90 degrees so that your fingers are pointing to the ceiling or hold onto the outer edges of your mat
On an inhalation, press the back of your shoulders and your feet into the floor and lift your hips up
Press the inner feet down actively and keep the knees from spreading out wide, by engaging the inner thighs
Lengthen your tailbone, slide your shoulder blades down your back and keep your neck neutral
You can clasp your hands behind your back
Stay for 5 to 15 breaths
To come out of the pose, release the arms and roll your spine down on an out-breath
Beginners’ tips
Take your time working on lifting up into Bridge with control. You might like to practise coming in and out of the pose a few times first before holding the pose for a few breaths.
Pay close attention to your knees, don’t allow them to fall out wider than your feet as you rise upwards. If you find this happens you can squeeze a yoga block between your thighs as you come up.
Benefits of Bridge pose
Stretches out the front body – fronts of the thighs, hips, abdomen and chest
Strengthens the back body – legs, glutes and back.
Improves digestion
Energising
Watch out for
As you rise up, make sure you don’t flatten the back of the neck. Keep the neck neutral and lift the breastbone towards the chin
Don’t turn your neck during the pose (either coming in or out of it, or once you’re in the full pose).
Variations
Roll your spine – you can come out of the pose by slowly coming down, vertebrae by vertabrae. Allow the spine to slowly roll its way down. You can come up again into the pose the same way. This is a lovely ‘spine massage’.
You can lift one leg straight up to the ceiling.
If you want to make the pose more restorative, place a support like a yoga block or folded towel under your sacrum (just above your tailbone) and let your weight rest on the support.
