Instructions:
-Sit on the edge of a firm blanket. Extend your legs in front of your body and sit up straight in Seated Staff Pose (Dandasana).
-Cross your legs in front of you at the shins. With your knees wide, place each foot beneath the opposite knee.
-Fold your legs in toward your torso. Place your hands on your knees, palms down.
-Balance your weight evenly across your sit bones. Align your head, neck, and spine. Lengthen your spine, but soften your neck. Relax your feet and thighs.
-Gaze straight ahead. Hold for up to one minute.
-Release and change the cross of your legs.
Benefits:
This pose stretches almost every part of the body: The hips, shoulders, ankles, thighs, armpits, triceps, and chest. By equally lengthening and opening both sides of the body, it helps to correct posture and regain balance between the left and right sides of your body, and the top and bottom. Sitting upright with your spine aligned calms the mind and reduces stress, anxiety, and fatigue. This pose also increases blood supply to the legs and arms, making it a useful pose to counteract long periods of sitting in a chair or being hunched over a desk.