On Thursday I met with Craig at Yoga Moves in Bondi, to take some shots of the centre. Craig has been practicing Ashtanga for close to 20 years and teaches as well. He has a deep commitment to yoga and a strong spiritual connection. I asked him to show me his favourite pose and write down what its significance is.

This posture is called‘Dwi pada yoga dand asana’. Yoga means union, and ‘dand’ means staff. All the ‘Yogadandasana’postures have great significance. Staffs are particularly significant in thesense of the shepherd and the staff finding the way. This posture guides theyoga practitioner into a state of yoga or union, be it the physical,psychological or spiritual.

In addition to this,the pressure it places on the armpits, stimulates the glands in the armpits torelease toxins and fluids into the bloodstream, making the lymphatic systemhealthy. The pressure into the armpits also releases the glands in the neck,activating the Thymus gland, which stimulates the immune system.

The extreme opening inthe hips releases the lower proportion of the spine, and the pressure of thefeet pushing into the armpits releases the upper spine, this frees the spine ina supported manner to allow the central energy channel (sushumna) in the spineto open.

Opening the ‘sushumnachannel’, clears the way for kundalinienergy to arise without obstruction from the base of the spine, to the crown ofthe head. Once kundalini has risenthe yogi experiences death states which can lead to Samadhi, the goal of yoga,beyond life and death.