Daṇḍāsana - Staff Pose
This pose can relieve breathlessness and choking in asthmatics and tones the chest, abdominal walls spine and legs.
Sit with your legs stretched out straight in front of you, legs and feet together.
Draw the buttock flesh out to the sides once on each side, then once again both sides.
Feel the sensation of the sitting bones and broadening the heels, balancing the ankles and gathering up into the hip joints, draw the top of the thighbones down to allow the inner-front aspects of the sitting bones to make deeper contact with the ground.
Breathe. While maintaining the actions described above and allowing space for your breath to unfold, simultaneously extend the heels and draw the kneecaps towards the pelvis.
Allow the lift of your knees to draw the top of the thighs down deeper and lift the body from the groins to the breastbone.
Sit the arm pits above the hips and lift the waist, by sucking the upper side and back ribs in and pulling the breastbone up.
Extend the arms until straight with the shoulders pulling away from the ears. This is only possible with enough lift (see contraindications, below).
Look evenly ahead, allow the collar bones and the boney outcrop behind the ears to feel softly attracted to a midpoint between the two.
Soften the gaze, loosen the jaw, maintain the extension in the torso.
Keep the shoulders back and shoulder blades down and in, away from the skin.
Do not allow the abdomen to sag.
DURATION: 20-30 seconds, or 10-20 breath cycles.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
If you cannot keep the abdomen from sagging or waist feels dull, then sit on a yoga block or two neatly folded blankets.