Pose Meaning

Setu – Bridge; Bandha – Bind, Lock; Asana – Pose, Posture

This asana is pronounced as SAY-tuh-bun-DHAS-ana
The pose resembles a bridge, hence the name. The bridge pose is a beginner’s backbend yoga posture commonly used to stretch and strengthen the back and abdominal muscles as well as open the lungs and chest.

 

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) is an amazingly versatile backbend that you can practice in a variety of ways, depending on what you want to achieve and how you use it in a sequence. The posture is potent by itself, but can also be a precursor to a range of postures with very different energetic benefits.
Bridge can be either a restorative posture or a dynamic way to open and strengthen your body. It opens your thoracic spine (the middle and upper back) and imprints important alignment principles in your lower body that will serve you throughout your practice. Whether you are new to yoga or have been practicing for years, you can reap benefits from building a strong Bridge. As you play with the pose in its various incarnations, enjoy it as you would a new friend with whom you anticipate many years of fruitful and illuminating companionship. It won’t disappoint you.

Origin

The pose appears as “Kāmapīṭhāsana” in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi (a treatise written in the 19th century in Karnataka on the iconography and iconometry of divine figures in South India, written before 1868).

Steps

Step 1

Lie supine on the floor, and if necessary, place a thickly folded blanket under your shoulders to protect your neck. Bend your knees and set your feet on the floor, heels as close to the sitting bones as possible.

Step 2

Exhale and, pressing your inner feet and arms actively into the floor, push your tailbone upward toward the pubis, firming (but not hardening) the buttocks, and lift the buttocks off the floor. Keep your thighs and inner feet parallel. Clasp the hands below your pelvis and extend through the arms to help you stay on the tops of your shoulders.

Step 3

Lift your buttocks until the thighs are about parallel to the floor. Keep your knees directly over the heels, but push them forward, away from the hips, and lengthen the tailbone toward the backs of the knees. Lift the pubis toward the navel.

Step 4

Lift your chin slightly away from the sternum and, firming the shoulder blades against your back, press the top of the sternum toward the chin. Firm the outer arms, broaden the shoulder blades, and try to lift the space between them at the base of the neck (where it’s resting on the blanket) up into the torso.

Step 5

Stay in the pose anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Release with an exhalation, rolling the spine slowly down onto the floor.

Benefits

• Strengthens the back muscles
• Relieves the tired back instantaneously
• Gives a good stretch to the chest, neck and spine
• Calms the brain, reducing anxiety, stress and depression
• Opens up the lungs and reduces thyroid problems
• Helps improve digestion
• Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause and menstrual pain
• Helpful in asthma, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and sinusitis

Tips

• Use a yoga block under the hips to support your weight.
• As you rise up, make sure you don’t flatten the back of the neck. Keep the neck neutral and lift the breastbone towards the chin
• Don’t turn your neck during the pose (either coming in or out of it, or once you’re in the full pose).
• Take your time working on lifting up into Bridge with control. You might like to practice coming in and out of the pose a few times first before holding the pose for a few breaths.
• Pay close attention to your knees, don’t allow them to fall out wider than your feet as you rise upwards. If you find this happens you can squeeze a yoga block between your thighs as you come up.

Contraindication

• Avoid doing this pose if you are suffering from neck and back injuries.

Yoga is the artwork of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.”