Camel Pose can give you an incredible boost of energy. I use this to empower myself after a long day and get my confidence back. Did you know that sitting too much can make you less confident? It sounds like a bit of an abstract connection to make, but the relationship between your self-image and your posture has been verified again and again. When you slouch at your computer, you lose mobility in your spine, your hips and back get tight, and you become fatigued. No one feels good with all that!

A pose like Ustrasana can give you a boost of energy by counteracting the effects of using your computer all day. It’s the reverse motion of sitting that re-energizes your body’s mechanics and helps you find your neutral, healthy position again. Read on to learn the specific benefits of Camel Pose, as well as how to do it.

 

Benefits of Camel Pose

Camel Pose can improve your energy levels and help reduce fatigue by finding extra mobility in your spine. This is the first thing we lose when we’re hunched over computers all day. A rejuvenating pose like Ustrasana can be incredibly helpful for busy office workers to counteract the everyday physical effects of their job.

At the same time you undo your slouching posture, you can also strengthen your back in Camel Pose, the backs of your thighs, and your glute muscles, all of which help you stabilize your pelvis and maintain a proper neutral posture.

If you sit at a desk all day and you slouch, you’re creating a recipe for muscular dysfunction that leads to pain. If you already have a stiff back and tight hamstrings, you’re well on your way to chronic discomfort! This is why a pose like Ustrasana can be so helpful for so many people. It is the opposing force against the pressures we put on ourselves, sitting all day in the Western world.

Other benefits include the stimulation of internal organs and help with insomnia, migraines, blood pressure levels, and asthma.

 

How to Do the Pose

Camel Pose begins in a kneeling position, with your knees the same width as your hips. Press into the floor through the tops of your toes as you feel your ankles firm up and your inner thighs turn back. You should feel your glutes releasing in this position, so long as your pelvis is neutral, tilting neither backward nor forwards. Pay attention to your knees and make sure your hips are squarely over them.

Your weight in Ustrasana should be in your toenails and knees as you pull your chest up, dropping your hands together in front of you and letting your chin fall forward. As you breathe in, push your hands facing forward, lifting your chest even higher, leaving your chin and hips in the same position. Pull your arms back through your shoulders and try to touch your heels.

Your back should be lengthy, extended, and full of room as you let your head fall back towards your shoulders. Continue to feel the weight pressing down through your toes and legs to give your chest its upward motion. As you lean back into this pose, remembering to maintain a neutral pelvic position, take up to 10 breaths through your open chest.

As you come out of Camel Pose with one last inhale, remember that your head and neck should come forward last after you’ve brought your arms forward, closed your chest, and returned to normal sitting.

 

The Takeaway

Camel Pose or Ustrasana is your treatment for the illness of slouching, which can close up our spine and chest and lead to backaches, tightness, and fatigue. The act of opening can not only increase our energy during the busy week but can also help us strengthen our bodies against posture problems, mechanical imbalances, and muscle tightness.

This pose has always been a calming, strengthening practice. In the modern Western world, however, it has become a necessity.