Sudokasana : Supine Twists Session 9

FIRST EXERCISE OF SESSION (1.5 minutes)
Lie on your back with your legs in the crooked position. Rest your arms on the floor beside your trunk with the palms face upwards. Keeping the back of your hands against the floor swing your arms away from your trunk – as far as feels comfortable or until your arms are pointing away from your feet. Straighten one leg along the floor and have a sense of the heel moving away from hips and hands. When the leg is straight, press the heel downwards; for each exhalation try to increases the pressing down of the heel and also squeeze the abdomen in towards the spine. Just before inhaling, relax the abdomen and allow the inhalation to flow as happens naturally. Hold for 3 to 5 breaths, then release the pressing down of the heel. Draw the heel up to the buttocks and repeat with the other leg. Then move your arms back to your sides.
SECOND EXERCISE OF SESSION (3 minutes)
Lie on your back and bring your knees to your chest. Rest your arms along the floor at shoulder level with the palms turned face up. Have a sense of pressing the back of the hands, arms and shoulders backwards into the floor. Keeping your legs together, lower your knees about half-way towards the floor on one side. Turn your head to face in the opposite direction, and consciously work on keeping the shoulder of this side pressed into the floor as you then lower the knees the rest of the way to the floor. Keeping knees close to chest, and being sure to keep shoulder pressed down onto the floor, straighten your legs by pushing heels away from hips – it is fine for legs not to straighten completely. Hold for 5 breaths, breathing into the open side of the trunk. Fold legs back close into trunk, and, pressing down through shoulders, lift legs back to centre above trunk. Repeat to other side.
THIRD EXERCISE OF SESSION (1.5 minutes)
Lie on your back with your legs in the crooked position. Straighten one leg and lift the arm of that side to point away from the hips. Place the other arm across your trunk. Press the foot of the bent leg into the floor so that you roll over onto your side. Some women might be more comfortable with a thin cushion under their ribs. Check your body is in line. Place the hand of your top arm on the floor to aid your balance. Slightly lift your top leg and bending the knee as much as your are able bring that knee up close to your chest. Then, keeping the knee close to chest, straighten the leg forwards and then swing the leg back to above the other leg. Repeat 1 to 2 more times. Roll onto your back and then repeat to the other side.
FOURTH EXERCISE OF SESSION (4 minutes)
Lie down in a comfortable position and practise a relaxation method of your choice. You could try the following: Think of a quality you would like to have more of in your life and choose a colour to represent that quality. Imagine you are lying in a circle with the centre of the circle as the centre of your being. Imagine the circle’s circumference is of the same colour, and quality, as the colour / quality you have chosen to work with. Imagine the colour / quality, gradually migrating to the centre of the circle, to the centre of your being – continue until the colour of the circle’s circumference has faded – bring your awareness to your centre and feel the colour and quality there, in you and part of you. Remember not to rush sitting up (and then standing) after practising relaxation as it causes one’s blood pressure to drop, which can cause dizziness if one moves too quickly.