Uttana (puppy pose)

Uttana Shishosana (puppy pose)

To do this pose:

Come onto all fours on your mat. Make sure your wrists are directly under your shoulders and knees directly under your hips. Keep your spine, head, and neck relaxed. Start to walk your hands forward, keeping your hips directly over your knees the whole time. Walk your hands out as far as is comfortable for your body. If you can, rest your forehead on the mat and let your heart sink to the floor. Hold this position and let your chest sink a little further with every exhale.

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It stretches your whole back, the shoulders, and the abdominal muscles. Any back stretch is good for nurses. Back pain is the most common injury reported in nurses and is not JUST confined to the low back. Hunching over our computers and patients can really impact the upper back, neck, and shoulders. This pose can help bring your spine into extension when you’ve been in flexion all day! Do this pose after a long shift when you feel a lot of tension in your upper back and shoulders 
• It opens your heart. As nurses, we guard our hearts a lot during our work and for good reason. When your heart is always open you risk being hurt or burnt out. So after a hard shift, sit in puppy pose and let your heart open into the ground and all those feelings pour out into the earth.