Yoga Foundations: Bridge Pose

In this Yoga Foundations video, which forms part of my free posture education series, we explore Bridge Pose. This gentle backbend helps strengthen the legs and glutes, open the chest and shoulders, and improve spinal mobility. Practicing it mindfully supports healthy alignment, builds awareness of the relationship between the feet, pelvis, and spine, and can help release tension from prolonged sitting.

Bridge Pose is both strengthening and opening, making it a great introduction to backbends while remaining accessible to all practitioners.

Be mindful not to collapse into the lower back or lose alignment in the front knee.

Transcript

Hello, My name is Nina and today I will show you the bridge pose as part of my yoga foundation series. So in order to come into a bridge pose, We align down on our back. Bring your feet in hip distance. And especially for the ladies between us. Your hips aren't there, So they are here. They are way smaller than you normally think. Rolling down to your mat and you position your feet. In a way that you have the feeling that you do not need to use tension here in the inside thighs or in the groins. Yeah, And then also you have a good position for your lower back. The arms next to the body with the palms facing up. Now, First of all, Ground your feet. Try to feel that the feet are grounded, That they are evenly extended. Put on the map that the weight is evenly distributed. And in order to go into your bridge pose, You try to push your feet a little bit down. And you roll gently away from the mat. Now what often happens here is that the legs are falling apart and outside. Try to roll your inner thighs inside and to keep the legs parallel. You can stay here, Try to help. A right angle step between. The heels and the knees approximately. And then from here you can push a little bit higher. Connecting again the knee to the spine. But what you can also do if you wanted to go further is fold your hands underneath. Ripple the shoulder blades together, Pushing the hands and the edges of the arms and the hands down. So grounding the feet and pushing away. From them. At the same time, The arms go down. Keep breathing. In through the nose. And exhale through an open mouth. You then want to release the arm. And gently. Roll down. As this position may activate as a slow, Because it's a backbend, It may activate your lower back. So in order to release any tension you may have felt in the lower back, You can go into knees to chest position. And just roll your dough out. If you wanted to add a final twist here, Which is also explained in one of my videos. Graduating. The legs, The knees fall into one side. You open the opposite arm and the head rolls the other way. And your wife here. You stay, But just for demonstration purposes. I'll show you the other side as well. Also better for my body, Showing the exercise. You always try to relax the shoulder that is on the floor. And you can come back. Knees to chest. Bring the feet back down where we started. And that is. Your bridge cuts. Enjoy the practice.