Swan Dive

The next exercise is called Swan dive. It takes a lot of back muscle control. It opens up the chest to create an atmosphere of exhilaration and excitement. Obviously it's an advanced exercise. So to go through the basic mechanics of it, first of all, Christie's got her hands right on the side of her head a little bit wide. Now pull the stomach in and up and press down with the hands to lift your chest up, opening the chest out, pulling the shoulder blades down your back and make sure that you're tightening the muscles. So from your heels up through the crown of your head, you're in a locked position.

Now keeping the shape just rock forward to the arms or bent. Lift the legs up to the ceiling and then press back up. That's the movement. But she will do it without her arms. So as you fall forward, now you will take your arms to the side. This you can only do fast. So here we go. Christie, take a breath in and then on an exhalation, fall forward and inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale. Last one. Inhale and come back down to the mat.

So obviously it's a rhythm exercise. You have to trust your body, you have to lock everything so you're not flopping around as you fall forward. Cause it is a fall. You have to think of the legs lifting you. So creates nice firm bottom, nice strong open chest. Things to watch out for is if the legs are disconnected or if you feel a pinch in the lower back. Not everybody has a long open, lower spine. In that case, you take the legs wider apart so that there's room for the sacred to be buried.

And now Christie, lift up one more time, making sure this is buried, but the stomach supports the lower back. It just twice going forward with the legs apart to show how it's done. So fall and up. So easier to get the legs up. That's right. And then come back down, sit into child's pose and stretch your lower back out. So you have a nice elongation of the spine.

So very useful exercise to create strengths in the skeleton. Strengths in the back of vertical feeling. When you stand up straight, it's called Swan Dye.