Preparatory King DancerSave PDF
Saral Natarajasana
sah-rahl nah-tah-RAH-JAH-sah-nah
Strengthens legs, opens shoulders and chest
Expands and strengthens lungs
Improves coordination and balance
How to perform Preparatory King Dancer
- Begin in Mountain Pose. Shift your weight to your left foot.
- Bend your right knee with an exhale, drawing the foot toward your buttocks. Clasp the inside of the ankle with your right hand.
- Reach your left arm forward and up with an inhale, touching the index finger and thumb together.
- Slowly extend your right foot up and back with an exhale. Try to bring the thigh parallel to the floor (or even higher).
- Hold the pose and take slow, deep breaths.
- Slowly lower your leg with an exhale. Change sides.
Alignment cues
- Hips squared
- Avoid compressing low back
- Steady gaze
- Do not lock standing knee
- Leg raised directly behind body
Modification: Brace your outstretched hand on a wall to balance.
Avoid this pose if you have high blood pressure or low back injury.
More yoga poses to discover
Preparatory King Dancer (Saral Natarajasana in Sanskrit) is an intermediate yoga pose that belongs to the back bends and balancing and hip openers and standing categories. This asana targets chest, quadriceps, shoulders and spine, and also involves abs, ankles, calves, middle back / lats, obliques and upper back & lower traps muscles. Preparatory king dancer expands and strengthens lungs; strengthens legs, opens shoulders and chest and also improves coordination and balance. Refer to the illustration and instructions above for how to perform this posture correctly. Discover more yoga asanas and yogic breathing exercises in our free yoga pose directory – a visual resource for yoga teacher training students as well as practitioners of all levels. Finally, shop our best-selling Yoga Cards products!
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