#THFChallenge16 – Day 6

Friends, it’s the 6th day of our #THFChallenge16 and today’s pose is a favourite!

It’s the Mermaid variation of the Lord of the Dance: strong, good, sexy, challenging. A great pose.

This pose is a bit more challenging the the other 8 asana of #THFChallenge16, but it works wonders for strength, stability, back stretch, hip and legs flexibility.

Your becomes strong and rooted, while your upper body stretches deeply as you extend your spine and enjoy the freedom of this asana. Magic. Love it.

So, let’s have a closer look! 🙂

1. Start by warming up your legs and chest with 5 sun salutations A+B. If your are already practicing and want to include this Mermaid variation in your yoga sequence, exercise your chest and legs with camel pose, upward facing dog and then when you are ready come into Tadasana (mountain pose) – just stand on your feet with touching toes, look forward, engage your core, open the chest nicely and breathe deeply.
2. Engage the legs, stretch your right leg back as in a thigh stretch.
3. Bring your right leg up: keep your arm extended and engaged, hold the knee,  pulling it up, keep the standing leg straight and strong.  If necessary, help yourself with a wall: 
4. Both legs are aligned and you can feel the stretch in your torso, hip and lower back.
5. Tuck the foot into the elbow pit. Let it slide down the right arm and when it reached the elbow pit close bend and close the elbow to help you lock the toes and keep them stable. This will require a bit of extra balance and knee flexibility. Help yourself with the opposite arm, keep your spine arched and the standing leg strong.
6. Straighten the left arm and rotate the elbow outwardly, bend it back and grab your right hand.
7. Look forward toward a fixed spot and keep your gaze for 5/8 breaths, depending on your experience.
8. To get out of the pose, release the leg and drop the right knee. Come back into tadasana or counterbalance Mermaid with a nice standing forward bend.

This asana is usually practiced at the end of the yoga class, as it is challenging and requires a good amount of warming up. If you are a complete beginner and are unfamiliar with other standing backbends such as the Lord of the Dancer, you can try an easier variation of the Mermaid. Take a look at the following video for more details about how to perform it:

 

It’s all for now!

Keep on sharing your pics on IG to win a chance to be featured on the blog! Simply tag me (@yogafitsara) and use #THFChallenge16 hashtag.

Sara