Sasangasana (rabbit pose)

Sasangasana (rabbit pose)

To do this pose:

Come to a child’s pose at the back of your mat. Once there, wrap your arms around behind and grab onto your heels. When you have a good grip, start to lift your hips and roll onto the crown of your head. Come up only as high as feels good for you and don’t put too much weight on your head or neck. This gives you a stretch in your upper back and separates your shoulder blades. When you’ve had enough, relax your hips back down to the earth and release your arms. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It opens the shoulders. This pose is one of the few that stretches the upper back and helps you pull your shoulder blades apart. This can really open up your rib cage from a different angle and the back of your heart. This helps you open up from all angles. 
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• It helps with sinus problems! As a nurse, having a congested nose is the worst and you feel like you can’t breathe at all. This position helps increase blood flow to the sinuses so that they can heal and you can actually breathe at work! 
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• It helps with insomnia and depression. This pose has been proven to help with these issues because it slows the heart rate. As your heart rate slows down, you become less anxious or awake, and can start to feel sleepy. So, if you’re having a hard time falling asleep before waking up at the crack of dawn for a shift, take a few moments to sit in Rabbit pose and feel your body relax.