Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

meridian, which run up the inside of the legs and over the back. Come with me now on the delicate
wings of the Dragonfly for a flight you won’t soon forget!
1. Sitting on your mat, open your straight legs as wide as they will naturally go; this is called
straddle position. To be confident that you’ve found your proper starting point, you should
already feel a good deal of sensation in the inner thigh and groin. Lift the crown of your head
toward the ceiling and lengthen your spine by placing your hands behind you, fingertips pointing
away from your body, and actively pressing your fingertips into the floor. As you inhale, engage
the quadriceps muscles in your thighs and flex your feet strongly, activating the muscular sheath
of your body.
2. Now, to really feel the contrast between muscular engagement and passive release, inhale deeply.
As you exhale, let your legs and feet go completely soft and limp against the floor. Stop holding
and let the floor support you. Allow your body weight to drop down into the earth as you greet
the pose with your conscious breath and relax. Drop your head gently forward and breathe. Tune
in to the degree of sensation you are feeling, especially in your groin. This is the moment of truth
in which you’ll decide where best to go from here; you are at a crucial point where it is essential
to calibrate how far you can safely go into the stretch.
If you find that you are sufficiently flexible—meaning you feel a healthy stretch, but not so
much sensation that you are in discomfort—go deeper. Bring your hands in front of your body,
placing your palms on the floor, and drop your head forward, allowing your upper back to melt
toward the floor, coming into a deeper, fuller expression of the pose. At your starting point, your
arms may be straight, with palms on the floor, or perhaps your elbows will be bent and your head
quite close to the floor. Remember that you can always come back from your edge if the sensation
is too intense.
3. Now that you’ve found your ideal starting position, allow your body to adjust into this new
shape, and with your head heavy and your legs and feet completely relaxed, give your full body
weight to the floor beneath you. Feel fully supported by the earth. Breathe into the sensations you
feel in your groin and upper thighs, and then, as you exhale, let go. In your mind, travel up to your
head, neck, and shoulders, and down through your spine, legs, and feet. Breathe generously into
this entire expanse. As you exhale, feel your breath moving all the way down your arms and legs
and out through your fingertips and toes into the earth below.
4. To come out of the pose, do your best to keep your eyes closed and preserve your new inner
sight. Slowly walk your hands back toward your torso, using your arms to assist you in gently
stacking your spine as you roll up to a fully erect posture.
5. Once you are sitting tall, inhale deeply and bring your arms behind you, extending your upper
body, chest, and face up and back, moving into the slightest back bend as a counter stretch to the
pose. You’ll likely feel as if the muscles of your inner thighs have been stretched as never before,
so move with caution!
6. Gently and slowly, draw your legs back together with your hands, bounce them out, and swing
your legs back and forth like a windshield wiper a few times before coming into the Child’s
Pose.