How to perform Two-Legged Inverted Staff Pose
Keeping the feet and forearms firmly rooted, start to lift your hips up off the floor. Make sure your shoulders stay open: this will help you achieve greater opening in the chest and a deeper bend in the back.
What is Dvi Pada Viparita Dandasana?
An intense backbend that incorporates a shoulder-opening and core-strengthening motion. Your forearms are positioned on either side of your head, and you are mostly using your arm and core muscle strength to lift you into this inverted backbend. You can also use support: a chair, for example, acts as a counterbalance, helping you stay in the pose and get deeper into the backbend. The stabilising effect that the supporting object has will help you strengthen all the necessary muscles in preparation for the full, unassisted variation of this pose. This way you get all the benefits of an inversion without the additional effort.
When to use Dvi Pada Viparita Dandasana?
This deeper version of the pose may be incorporated into a backbend sequence, or used prior to the more advanced backbends to come into the whole back rib cage and action of the shoulders. Even if you use a supporting object, the legs, buttocks, arms, and core remain active. This pose can provide a release for stiffness in the neck. With the chair support, the full benefits of backbends can be experienced even if there is some weakness or illness preventing the full pose.
