<a href="http://www.theyogasanctuary.biz/ys/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/rsz_sukhasana.jpg"><img src="http://www.theyogasanctuary.biz/ys/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/rsz_sukhasana.jpg" alt="" title="rsz_sukhasana" width="210" height="262" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1492" /></a><strong>Easy Seated Pose</strong>
by Jennifer Arnold

sukha = easy
asana = seat
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<strong>instructions:</strong>
1. Sit up on one or two folded blankets. Bend your knees and cross your legs at your shins. Gently draw your knees slightly closer towards each other. Softly flex your feet and move them away from the buttocks so that your feet are under your knees.  

2. Begin to feel heaviness at the base of your pelvis, in your sit bones. Ground down through your sit bones and feel a sense of connection to the earth beneath you.  

3. Bring your hands to the ground or to the blankets beside your hips. As you press your hands down, lift the sides of your waist and your spine upward. Draw your navel softly in and up toward the breast bone. Broaden your chest and feel your shoulder blades glide down your back.

4. Let the hands then come to rest on the knees. Gently close the eyes and begin to focus on the rhythm of your breath. Stay for as long as comfortable.

<strong>tips:</strong>
Sometimes this posture brings strain to the hips and/or knees. If you find this to be true for you try one of the following modifications: bring another blanket under you sit bones or support your knees with blocks or blankets. You might also use a wall to support the spine if your back feels weak in this posture.

<strong>benefits: </strong>Opens inner and outer thighs; strengthens back muscles; improves posture; creates greater alignment in the spine which allows breath and energy to flow more freely; brings a sense of calm and quietness. This posture is often used as a seat for meditation, breath work, or as a place to center oneself before beginning a more active asana practice.
 

<em><strong>It captures the essence of asana as described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, "Asana is a steady, comfortable posture." Sutra 2.46. </strong></em>
