Dandasana

Staff Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions

Sit on the floor with your legs together and extended in front of your torso. If your
torso is leaning back, it may be because tight hamstrings are dragging the sitting
bones toward the knees and the back of the pelvis toward the floor. It may be helpful
to sit on a blanket or a bolster to lift the pelvis.
A simple way to check alignment is to sit with your back against a wall. The sacrum
and the shoulder blades should touch the wall, but not lower back or the back of the
head. Put a small rolled-up towel between the wall and the lower back.
Sit towards the front of the sitting bones, and adjust the pubis and tail bone
equidistant from the floor. Without hardening the belly, firm the thighs, press them
down against the floor (or your support), rotate them slightly toward each other, and
draw the inner groins toward the sacrum. Flex your ankles, pressing out through your
heels.
To lengthen your front torso perpendicular to the floor, think of energy streaming
upward from the pubis to the sternum, then down the back from the shoulders to the
tail bone. Then imagine the tail lengthening into the floor.

Imagine your spine as the staff at the vertical core of your torso, rooted firmly in the
Earth, the support and pivot of all you do. Hold the pose for one minute or longer.