Imagine you are flying through space and time, above your fears and doubts. That’s where I go when I practice diagonal lunge. Sure, it’s difficult – your shoulders are burning, your legs may start to shake, but you feel alive. Your entire body is working to support you in this pose and as you breathe through the aching muscles and the rapid heart beating, find gratitude for your strength and embrace your willingness to be uncomfortable. You will take off and soar.
Diagonal Lunge
- From Crescent Lunge Pose, inhale, hinge foreword from your hips and pull your chest forward.
- Straighten your back leg.
- Frame your ears with your biceps.
- Soften your should blades down your back.
- Lift up through your pelvic floor.
- Hug your navel and ribs in.
- With each inhale breathe length into your spine.
- With each exhale firm your abdominal wall.
- Hug your inner thighs toward your midline.
- Create one line of energy from your fingertips to your back heel.
- Hold and breathe for several rounds of breath.
- Repeat on the other side.
Variation
- For individuals with shoulder injuries, sweep your arms behind you and spin your palms downward (thumbs facing out, pinkies facing in). Continue to hover your torso over your front thigh.
Body
- Strengthens quads, glutes, hamstrings, core, and shoulders.
- Opens psoas and spine.
Mind
- Builds mental fortitude and cultivates stamina.
Chakra
- As you ignite the muscles in your abdominal wall and your spine, Diagonal Lunge mobilizes your third chakra, Manipura. This chakra is located at the navel, just above the solar plexus. The lumbar spine (lower back), abdominal wall and internal organs (including liver, stomach, spleen, and pancreas) are key players in this chakra. The color of this chakra is yellow. “Activation of the Manipura Chakra frees one from negative energies and purifies and strengthens one’s vitality.”
Namaste,
Coach Jentry