Fish - Matsyasana

VARIATION1

VARIATION 2

VARIATION3		VARIATION 4

Begin by lying on your back with the knees bent and the feet flat on the floor. Slide your hands, palms down, beneath your buttocks, allowing the buttocks to rest on the backs of the hands. Keep the forearms and elbows close to your sides. While inhaling, press the forearms and elbows against the floor while lifting the upper torso and head away from the floor. Release the head back onto the floor, allowing the back or crown of the head to lightly rest on the floor. Straighten the legs or keep the knees bent and hold the position.
All the variations shown in the photos are as equal valid. Choose one up to your level.

Benefits:

• The Fish Pose has been used therapeutically for anxiety, constipation, fatigue, menstrual pain, mild back pain and respiratory ailments.
• This pose stretches the deep hip flexors and the muscles between the ribs, strengthens the muscles of the upper neck and the back of the neck, and improves posture.
• It stretches and stimulates the muscles of the belly, the muscles of the front of the neck and the organs of the belly and throat.
• Traditionally, the Fish Pose has been referred to as the “destroyer of all diseases.”