Benefits:

• Physical: Builds back and arm muscles, opens chest and shoulder girdle
• Emotional: Relieves depression, opens the heart
• Rx for: Back strength

This will crop up often in class as part of the flowing Sun Salutation, but do it alone here to isolate those back muscles and open the front of your chest. Lie face down, tops of your feet on the mat. Bend your elbows and spread your palms on the floor beside your lower ribs. Now push up, straightening your arms, without locking your elbows, and lifting both your legs and upper body into the air. Arch your chest upward, lifting the sternum. Keep elbows in, close to your sides.

Hint: Roll your shoulders back. Often this pose looks easy but elbows are hyperextended and chests are collapsed. Stick to Baby Cobra if your chest and back are not open enough to reach full Upward-Facing Dog. Also think of your tailbone as becoming part of your thighs so as not to exaggerate the curve in the low back.

Avoid if experiencing high or low blood pressure, serious low back or neck injury, or disk issues.