Posts In: twists

It can be really lovely to take time to focus your practice on seated twists, such as Marichyasana III.

Marichyasana III, the sages twist, is a beautiful shape to focus on creating a stable, grounded base. By grounding through the points of your body touching the earth, you’ll be able to focus on the internal lifting and rotation of your spine, starting from your navel and working all the way up to the top of your head.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali tell us “sthira sukham asanam” – steady and comfortable should be the posture.

In this twist, you can explore the interplay of these qualities of sthira (steadiness) and sukha (ease) – finding stability through your base, connected to the earth, so there can be ease and freedom in your movement and breathing. Your breath helping to release tension in your body so you can settle deeper into the stillness of your practice ❤️

Twists are an important part of our personal practice, and there’s rarely a class we teach where there isn’t some kind of twisting asana included.

Standing, seated or lying down, twists are amazing for spinal health and feel so good too 🌟

Building stability and flexibility in your spine, twists are also super helpful for stretching and lengthening your spine, helping to keep your back happy and healthy 😊

The breath is an important focus as you move in and out of twists and focusing on the exhale while moving helps to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system (the part of your being responsible for rest and digest).

And it’s something important to consider adding in to your own practice! Playing around with different variations of lunge twists to enliven your spine, creating an inner experience that is calming, grounding and centering.