back bend

What is Camel Pose in Bikram Yoga ?

  The Camel Pose in Bikram Hot Yoga Series or Ustrasana is a deep back bending pose that compresses and strengthens the spine. It also opens and stretches the front of the body. Camel Pose is called Ustrasana in Sanskrit and it comes from the words Ustra with the definition of "camel" and Asana meaning "seat" or "posture". It is the deepest back bend in the Bikram Hot Yoga Series that has tremendous health benefits that we will go over in a little bit.

Half Moon with Hands to Feet

( Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana)

   The opening posture of the Bikram Hot Yoga Series after Pranayama Breathing is Half Moon with Hands to Feet Posture. The Sanskrit name for the pose is Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana which is defined in English as Ardha meaning "half", Chandra meaning "moon", Asana translates to "seat" or "posture". Pada Hastasana translates from Sanskrit to English as Pada meaning "foot", Hasta means "hand" and once again Asana is "seat" or "posture". It is a four part posture which includes a side bend on each side of the body called Half Moon. Following doing both sides of the body in Half Moon you do a back bend and finally a forward fold  with hands to feet. The pose moves and stretches the whole body especially the spine in each direction. To simplify things we are going to break this post into three separate sections starting with Half Moon.