Key Points for Arm Balances in Advanced Yoga

Series Summary

The modern lifestyle is not exactly conducive to being physically fit. The long hours of office work we subject ourselves to daily can put considerable strain on the head, neck, spine, and back, as well as the elbows and wrists, legs and hips. It is vital to keep the body as active as possible despite these conditions so that circulation, metabolism and other bodily functions keep operating as they should. Practicing yoga is a great way to relax and improve your flexibility level. A few simple stretches throughout the day could make a vast improvement in your physical and mental well-being.

In these free instructional videos, you will get a basic introduction to yoga. Expert yoga instructor Leta Koontz demonstrates several arm balance poses that you can do at home. You will see demonstrations of the basic pro poses and more advanced poses, like the extended side pro pose, the hooked foot pose, and the advanced flying insect pose. These poses make an excellent yoga workout, and are great for building flexibility. Watch these videos and try these poses to reduce stress, increase your flexibility and start feeling great today!

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Leta Koontz and I'm a yoga instructor at Schoolhouse Yoga in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I'm here on behalf of Expert Village to teach you some arm balances. So there is two key points in doing arm balances safely and effectively. The first is to make sure that you are using your hands properly so you don't injure your wrist. Make sure that your hands are shoulder distance apart so that the center point of your wrist is in line with your shoulders. The second place is to make sure that all your weight is not letting all your weight go into your wrist. If you are disturbing the weight through the base of the fingers, the fingers attach to the hands all the way to the finger tips. This is going to be really important especially in the arm balances where we need to bring our weight forward you need to get more comfortable with bringing your weight into your fingers. The second point is to make sure you keep your navel drawn in with your spine and your engaging whole muscles and that is really going to be very important to maintain your balance when you start to bring your weight into your hands. "