Blog

Last updated on June 4th, 2024 at 07:37 pm

Introduction

Yoga is a full body and mind activity, that offers a cycle of poses that can improve our strength, balance, and flexibility. Yoga is an excellent full-body workout in a low-impact way, these yoga poses focus on calming the mind and have multiple physical and mental benefits.

Series of various yoga poses, here we discuss Bridge Pose (Setu Bandh Asana), a back-bending yoga pose with multiple health benefits. That is a gentle and subtle yoga posture that can improve spine flexibility, relax the spine, strengthen the back, and release muscle tension.

In this article, we learn about the bridge pose, including what is it, multiple benefits, and safety or precautions of this pose.

What Is A Bridge Pose?

Bridge pose also known as “SETU BANDHA SARVANAASANA”, is a Sanskrit language word.

Setu – Bridge
Bandha – Lock
Sarva – All
Anga – Limb

Bridge pose is a flexible backbend posture, that means to open your chest and stretch your thighs, including lifting the hips and sternum and pressing the arms down on the ground.

While performing the bridge pose, the shape of your body is just like similar to a bridge. It is a basic beginner’s pose, practiced at the end of the yoga sessions.

Bridge Pose Basics

It is the basic gentle beginner yoga pose, a reclined back-bent that stretches the front of the body. Lifting the hips muscles and sternum and pressing the arms down on the mat to make a shape-like bridge to maximum stretch the body.

• Target: Core Aera
• Pose Type: Back-Bend

Muscles Work in Bridge Pose?

Bridge pose is effective in releasing the tension and stiffness of the back, neck, and shoulders, it is a powerful exercise for the lower and upper body, improves all body flexibility, and stretches the muscles.

• Core
• Back
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Neck
• Chest
• Spine

Benefits Of Bridge Pose

There are multiple benefits of practicing bridge pose, for both physical and mental well-being, this posture allows our body to stretch and bend, which affects the body in various good ways.

Bridge Pose Benefits for Females

Bridge pose has numerous benefits for females also, it will nourish women’s health. It is good for PCOS pain, regulates the menstruation cycle, relieves lower back pain, stiffness, sciatica, and pelvic discomfort during menstruation, and also helps relieve symptoms of menopause.

Bridge Pose Benefits in Weight Loss

Bridge pose promotes the hormones that control metabolism, burning fats and calories, which control weight and a healthy metabolism. This pose strengthens the abdominal muscles, improves posture and balance, and regulates the endocrine gland. This posture includes your thighs, glutes, and back which can help tone those muscles.

Bridge Pose Benefits for Children

Bridge pose helps increase the children’s focus, comprehension, and mind memory. It is a simple gentle pose for children to practice at home easily, calming the mind, reducing stress, building strength, and stretching the body.

Bridge Pose Benefits for Thyroid

Bridge pose is effective for stimulating the thyroid gland, and thyroid-related disorders. This is helpful for thyroid ailments, pose allows the stretch of neck muscles and masseuse the neck, which improves blood circulation, and stimulates the thyroid gland. Especially beneficial for hypothyroidism and promotes the production of thyroxine hormone.

Other Benefits of Bridge Pose

• Improve blood circulation
• Reduce stress and depression
• Improve digestion system
• Reduce anxiety and insomnia
• Stimulate the endocrine glands and abdominal organs
• Improve the respiratory system and relieve the symptoms of asthma and sinusitis
• Strengthen and stretch the back, spine, glutes, and hamstring muscles.

How To Do Bridge Pose?

Here we discuss the step-by-step process of practicing bridge pose, follow these instructions and practice this pose under the guidance of an experienced yoga instructor or a teacher.

1. Lie down on the mat on your back to begin performing the bridge pose.
2. Spread your legs apart and bend your knees easily.
3. Make sure your knees and ankles should be in a straight line.
4. Placing both arms beside your body and palms facing down, strengthens your core.
5. Breathe slowly for 2 times in this position, to do better bridge pose.
6. Take a deep breath inhaling and lift your hips muscles and upper back
7. Squeeze your hips and thigh muscles inward.
8. Curve your shoulder, bring your hands together, and interlock them.
9. Straight your elbows, go as high as you can.
10. Make sure your chin touches your chest and keep breathing.
11. Hold this posture for 30 seconds, if possible.
12. When you come down, let go of your hand free, and roll back your shoulder.
13. Then slowly come down, breathe out, and relax.

Tips for Practicing Bridge Pose

If you are a beginner and just started your yoga journey, we all are facing some difficulties and problems in starting to perform yoga poses, the list below suggested some tips to do bridge poses easily.

• Practice for a few rounds
• Relax the glute muscles
• Keep breathing throughout the posture
• Press feet firmly on the ground
• Avoid moving head, cause of severe neck injury
• Listen to your body, do not push yourself
• Perform the child’s pose to relax the spin after the bridge pose.

What Are the Possible Variations of Bridge Pose

If you are facing difficulties or are a beginner to performing bridge poses, don’t worry there are many possible modifications that allows you to do bridge poses easily.

Use Leg Variation for Practice (One-Legged Bridge Pose)

Use A Hands Support To lift your hips muscles high (Bridge Pose Variation Hand Support)

Advanced And Beginner Bridge Pose Variation (Chatush Padasana)

Precautions and Contraindications of The Bridge Pose

• Avoid performing bridge poses during a back, neck, and shoulder injury.
• Avoid performing bridge poses while having severe knee and neck pain.
• Pregnant women have a risk while performing this pose, so perform this pose under the guidance of an experienced yoga instructor.
• If you have severe spondylitis or cervical issues, you should consult a doctor before practicing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The bridge pose is a powerful, back-bend yoga pose, with multiple health benefits, this pose is the best for opening the chest, and lung capacity and releasing the neck & shoulder tension. It is a relatively simple and easy yoga posture, effective in asthma, thyroid, and back pain.
In this pose, thighs, back, spine, and neck muscles work together, which is beneficial in various health conditions. Adding the bridge pose to your daily yoga routine will help your body in more flexibility and a healthy strong spine.

If you have any queries or suggestions, please leave a comment. We will pleased to answer all your queries. Thank you.

Honey

Honey is a certified yoga teacher from Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar. Through the learning process, she realized, that yoga can be helpful in the wellness of one’s life.