How to perform Four-Footed Pose
Lie down with your knees bent so that your feet are close to your buttocks. Grab onto your ankles and lift your hips up above the ground. Open your chest up and breathe.
What is Chatushpadasana?
Chatushpadasana is a combination of backbend and inversion and is very useful for strengthening your whole body, but also for calming your mind.
To get into this posture, lie down on your back with your arms stretched parallel to your body, your knees bent, and soles of your feet planted right in front of your hands. Keeping your shoulders in neutral, start to lift up your hips. If possible, grab your ankles with your hands. Make sure to distribute your weight equally between your feet and shoulders. This way you can ensure that you don’t overstrain any of your muscles.
Though this pose requires considerable effort, try to relax and breathe into it, noticing the heat building up in your shoulders and feet. When done properly, this pose can be both energizing, strengthening, and extremely soothing.
When to use Chatushpadasana?
Because of its soothing effects, this pose is typically used at the end of the practice. It helps redirect your blood flow and offers a mild backbend and shoulder-strengthening effect. Grabbing onto your feet or ankles has the additional benefit of helping you to cycle your energy and reconnect to your body at the end of your practice.
