Marīcyāsana I - Sage Marīci’s Pose

(Have a belt and block or folded blanket)

Sit on a block or neatly folded blanket with your legs stretched out in front of you.
Use your hands to draw the buttock flesh out and back.
Then draw your right heel towards its own buttock as close as comfortable maintaining the natural alignment of the leg.
Place your hands around your front shin lift and extend your torso as if you could lift your ribs over your bent knee.
Extend you body through your legs to reach the right hand towards the right foot.
Then rotate your right arm so the palm faces away from the body and the thumb points down.
Bend at the elbow wrap your arm beneath the shin and bring your left hand round your back to meet it. Work with vigour and focus but absolutely no aggression.
Holding the fingers together or binding palm to wrist, bind the right lower leg and turn to the left.
Maintain a lifted chest working from the back body as you maintain this twist.
Work on keeping a feeling of stability in the shoulder joints and press the medial edges of the shoulder blades in towards the ribs.
Stay for 10 to 20 seconds or 5 to 10 breaths.
Lift the chest and extend from the front groin and the waist as you turn the body to face the outstretched leg.
Lift the chest and pull up the back of the pelvis by lifting the waist.
Then inhale, deepen the extension of waist and lift of chest as you extend the front spine forwards over your front leg. Supporting from the back by pushing your bound right arm into your right shin.
Extend as far as you can fully engaged but without mental gripping.
Let you head relax and allow the breath to lower you into the pose still using your arm shin relationship as a spring board to greater front spine extension.
Stay for 20 to 30 seconds or 10 to 20 breaths.
Mindfully return to the twist.
Take three deep breathes and then release the arm link feeling that the stretched areas expand and fill with space.
Repeat all stages for second side.