Garudasana (eagle pose)

Garudasana (eagle pose)

To do this pose:

Come to a standing position at the front of the mat. Bring your arms out to your sides in a T position. Wrap your arms together in front of you with one elbow under the other. Continue to wrap your arms around one another and up to wrists if able, or bring your hands back behind you resting on your shoulder blades, giving yourself a hug. Then, pick up one leg and bring it up into your chest. Once high enough, cross that leg over your standing leg and bend deeply through both legs. Continue to wrap that leg all the way to the ankle or keep the top leg pointed out or on the floor to help with balance. Bend even deeper into your bottom leg while holding your arms up and out, feeling your shoulders open up.

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It promotes deep breathing. This pose pulls the shoulder blades apart so you can breathe even deeper into your upper back, really opening up your lungs. This can be so helpful after running through a unit or after a code and you can’t catch your breath. 
• It helps with balance! Any pose standing on one leg will help with balance which overall makes your body, your core, and the rest of your muscles stronger and more resilient to heavy workouts, or other stressful events like coding a patient. 
• It opens the shoulders and the hips. With the internal rotation of both, this offers a deep stretch of both the shoulders and hips, even more so the more you bend into your standing leg and lift your elbows up. A lot of stress can be stored here, so breathe, close your eyes, and notice what comes up for you, feel it, and let it go.