Shama Sikander does reverse prayer yoga asana; know the technique and benefits

What caught our attention was the Paschim Namaskarasana or reverse prayer yoga pose that the actor was seen doing in of the pictures.

“Balance, stillness, limitlessness…,” she captioned the post. Take a look.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Shama Sikander (@shamasikander) 

What is the asana all about?

“Paschim Namaskarasana is an amazing way to stretch your wrists, forearms, and shoulders, especially for people in a desk job. It’s usually performed as a warm-up stretch in yoga but one can do it at any time of the day. In my opinion, everyone should learn and include this in their warm-up for any activity such as running, swimming, gyming, cycling etc,” Yoga expert Sumit Sharma told indianexpress.com.

Here’s how you can perform Paschim Namaskarasana:

1. Stand on a yoga mat or on the floor.
2. Bring your legs together and keep your feet one inch apart.
3. Relax your shoulders and let your hands hang by the sides.
4. This is the Tadasana or mountain pose.
5. Now, begin relaxing your shoulders while bending your knees a little.
6. Begin raising your arms behind your back.
7. Now proceed to join your palms and keep the fingers pointing downwards.
8. Now, inhale and turn the fingertips inward towards the spine and rotate until your palms are joined as you turn your fingertips upwards.
9. Make sure that your knees are slightly bent and your palms are pressed firmly against each other.
10. Stay in the position for around 25-30 seconds.
11. Close your eyes.
12. Now begin turning your fingertips back downwards.
13. Release your hands and bring them back to the sides.
14. You have now returned to Tadasana.
15. Take a one-minute break and repeat the motion.

Benefits

*It stretches the shoulder, upper back, joints, and pectoral muscles.
*It has posture correction ability if performed frequently.
*Helps you breathe better by opening chest muscles.
*Releases any built-up stress in muscles around your neck, shoulders and arms.
*Easy to learn and quick to do.

“However, people who suffer from low blood pressure, arm or shoulder injury should avoid doing this pose,” the expert suggested.