Yoga for the Moon Phases - Bridge Pose

Bridge Pose

This heart opening pose, called Setubandha Sarvangasana in Sanskrit, is also a back-bending posture, which is a great way to counteract back/shoulder rounding from sitting for long periods, and release tension in the lower back. With the front body open it encourages us to feel courageous, open and communicative – perfect for the Full Moon, but useful any time you want to open up and expand the heart.

Bridge pose

Bridge pose is actually a variation of shoulder stand but allows us to enjoy many of the benefits of that pose without needing to take our whole body weight in our shoulders. As well as the backbend, it also provides a gentle inversion, with the head lower than the heart, so, as always, ensure that you have consulted a medical practitioner re any issues with injuries, heart conditions or blood pressure.

This pose strengthens the legs, with the glutes, quads, hamstrings, muscles around the knees and the ankles all needing to work to hold and stabilise the posture. The hip flexors are stretched and lengthened, opening the lower front body. The back is strengthened and the core-activated, with the abdominals being stretched and toned, ultimately helping with core stability. The chest and shoulder areas are opened, helping increase lung capacity, and flexibility in the shoulders and spine is improved.

How to find Bridge pose

Start lying down with the spine resting fully on the floor, then bend both knees up towards the sky, placing the feet flat on the ground, hip-width apart and parallel to each other. Try to take the feet as close as possible to the buttocks. Let your arms lie along the floor by your sides with the palms down. 

Starting position for Bridge pose

Using the arms for support, lift the hips off the floor, rolling the spine up off the floor. It really helps to engage the tummy muscles as well as the glutes, and think about tilting the pubic bone at the front of the pelvis up and in towards the ribs to start the roll up, lengthening and flattening the back as the hips get higher. Push down into the feet for stability. Roll up towards the shoulders as far as possible, pushing down into the hands, arms and shoulders to lift the chest up, and get the hips high. Use the quads to keep the thighs parallel and the knees over the ankles, so they don’t stray outwards. Keep the glutes engaged which helps the hip flexors to stretch, and the lower back to be protected. As an option you can tuck the chin towards the chest, which flattens the back of the neck into the floor, but your weight should be supported by the shoulders, not the neck.

When you’ve held the pose for several (4-8) breaths, round the spine and slowly begin to lower the back to the floor, one vertebra at a time from the neck down to the pelvis. Try to feel each individual back bone sequentially touching the floor. Keep the core and glutes active as you lower down gently, with control.

Other Options 

There are a couple of variations of the pose to explore.

Once in the pose described above, there is an option to bring the hands together underneath the body, clasping the hands and keeping the arms straight along the floor. It can help in this variation to snuggle the shoulders underneath, coming onto the outside of the upper arms.  As an intermediate step to this, if the hands don’t meet with the arms straight, you can hold a short strap between the hands to help.

Hands clasped beneath

 Another option is to find, and hold, each ankle with your hands, lifting the hips even higher. You may need to move the feet closer towards the shoulders to reach the ankles, but remember to keep the feet (and heels) flat on the floor.

If holding the pose feels fine and the legs are stable, then a further challenging variation is to raise one leg up towards the sky, keeping the other foot grounded. Obviously, then switch it out and take it on the other leg.

A more dynamic version of the pose is to raise and lower the body with every breath, rolling up on the inhale and lowering down on the exhale. Raising the arms over head as you come up and lowering them as you roll down adds even more dynamism to this version, as well as requiring more challenging coordination of body, arms and breath.

If the legs are finding it quite hard work to hold the basic pose, or you find the knees are straying outwards, then try placing a block between the knees and squeezing them together to hold it there while you take the pose.

Supported Bridge pose

Another version of this pose which can feel really nice, and is more supportive and accessible, is to take a block, and as you roll the back off the floor place the block under the wide, flat back of the pelvis, and gently lower the pelvis down onto the block. Ensure the block is not in the small of the back (too high) or catching the coccyx (too low) but is stable under the sacrum. The block can be used on the lowest, or middle setting (the middle is illustrated above). This is perhaps less strenuous and more relaxing than the other variations, whilst still giving a good stretch and sense of openness.

Breathing in the pose

This pose lends itself to using the breath as you come in and out of it. As you roll up into Bridge pose take a long steady breath in. Once in the pose, breathe deeply and evenly whilst holding the hips high, and then to come out of the pose, breathe out slowly and steadily as you roll gradually down. The opening of the chest at the peak of Bridge pose makes this a natural, feel-good practice.

If you choose to take the dynamic version rolling up and down multiple times, then, similarly, breathe in with every roll up and out each time you roll down, with or without the arm raising option.

Moving on

The way out of Bridge pose is by rolling the back down as described above, and then once the back is fully flat on the ground, it always feels good to bring both knees into the chest in Knees-to-Chest pose. Wrap the arms around the shins and feel free to have a little roll around and a good hug, as this is a great counter-pose to Bridge.  

From there you can easily move on to other supine poses, or keeping the knees in you could rock-and-roll forwards and backwards, coming up to sitting or even standing! If you are staying on your back, though, you could, for example, move on to Happy Baby pose or into a delicious Spinal Twist, before perhaps heading into a Final Resting pose. Wherever your practice takes you today, breathe and enjoy 😊

Make sure you always look after yourself when doing yoga.

It’s important to always listen to your body and only work within your personal limitations. You are fully responsible for your own safety and wellbeing. Make sure your surroundings and your practices are safe. Do not attempt to take a physical posture that is outside of the scope of your practice. If you have any specific medical conditions, injuries, surgeries or are pregnant you should check with your GP or appropriate medical professional before starting any exercise. Keep in mind that yoga might be challenging at times, but it should never be painful. You must stop if you experience any pain, and you should consult your GP if you experience anything untoward such as dizziness or feeling faint. Rest or leave anything out that you need to avoid or that does not feel right.

Any questions? I can be contacted at louise@essentialyoga.uk and I’ll see you again soon 😊