How to do the bird of paradise pose in yoga
1. Begin in a low lunge with your right leg forward and your left leg back. Bend your right knee to 90-degrees, and angle your left foot out to the side.
2. Place your palms on the floor on either side of your front knee and lift up through your torso as you inhale. Step forward onto the ball of your back foot as you press into your hands to lift the chest high.
3. Extend both arms up alongside each ear, palms facing each other and away from the face. Keep pressing down through both feet as you draw down through both legs, lifting up with strong energy through the torso.
4. Take a few breaths here to find balance and alignment before beginning to move into Bird of Paradise Pose. Make sure that you feel stable, supported, and comfortable when moving into this pose — if not, come back out of it and reset until you do — yoga is about finding what’s right for you in this moment!
5. Reach your left hand down onto the outside of your right ankle or shin, and draw the left leg up towards the ceiling by bending through that left knee as much as you can manage without pain or discomfort — aim for creating an external rotation in that hip joint so that front toes aim upwards towards the sky! As you do this, press your back heel strongly into the ground for support.
6. With each inhale reach up high out of that open heart space, with each exhale sending more strength down into those two feet pressing down firmly into Mother Earth!
7. To come out of this pose bring both legs back to low lunge position on an exhale — slowly roll it all down as if it’s an “unfolding” from a flower petal rather than a sudden drop out :). Then rest with some calming breaths before switching sides!