When you want all the benefits of an inversion without any of the risks of headstand (crunched neck), shoulder stand (hyperextended cervical vertebrae) handstand (aching wrists), this is your pose. And more: pressing down between the eyebrows activates the pituitary (hormone balance) and pineal (biorythym) glands. Oh the bliss of this pose! Just don't close your eyes or you'll miss this unique feeling of melting and energizing all at once.

The pinky fingers have the edge, so to speak! Another great focal point: the shoulders. Yes pull them down from you ears but also: feel as if your pulling the scapula straight up to the ceiling behind your ears.... Sounds confusing till you try it and it feels like you just great the lower spine another inch

Ah, Melina, there's the rub, or more accurately, the push/pull, yin/yang of every hot yoga pose - and this is exactly how you continually expand and benefit in the poses.

Yes you want to press into the blades of your pinky fingers for leverage to get the hips closer to the heels; yes you want to stretch forward as far as possible sliding along the blades of those pinky fingers to activate the upper shoulders; yes, as you do one it "detracts" from the other but actually, see it as opening space, a little at a time, for you to expand further in both directions.

This is natural human traction: using the body to open the body further.

Are you saying that you used to "get a good stretch" before but now you don't seem able? When your arms are fully locked - which happens as you stretch the fingertips forward more and balance on those pinky blades - the arms will feel light and energized. If they ache, you're not fully locked. Pressing the pinkies and keeping the arms squeezed behind the ears does it.

Heather - go ahead and give yourself this pose first thing out of bed in the morning! It;s one of the few I feel OK about recommending without heat (Savasana is the other). Fifteen minutes of Arda Kurmasana is equivalent to 8 hours of sleep in terms of balancing the chakras....how can you beat that! And that, Gabby, is why I always like to offer this pose as a double, an extra long single set: it's not 15 minutes but it's a chance to really relax into it.

There are so many beautiful nuances to focus on in this pose....and the beauty is there is no balancing on one leg while you do it! You are literally in a prostrate position which is very humbling and healing to the body and the spirit. So yes, the Kundalini wisdom is 15 minutes in this pose balances the biorhtyms (chakras) as well as 8 hours of sleep...but there would be no need to exchange your 8 hours for this 15 minutes. You simply may feel that you need less than 8...suddenly. For me, when we do this pose for the double set, as it ends I feel as I do when I just wake up - fully present and refreshed. That's what I get from a good nights sleep as well.

Some people have this problem for sure. Similar to Childs Pose, some people can spread the knees apart a bit and make room for the ample bosom. Or you can simply relax your shoulders A LOT until everything releases more and more. Breasts are mostly fat tissue and relatively easy to "flatten" (think Mammograms...ugh). Try pressing your breastbone to the floor, pulling the shoulders apart more and more, relaxing the shoulders forward and down more and more....and you will find your comfort zone here.

The energy burst is your pineal gland, that master control center of your biorhythms (I love that word - it alludes to the idea that your biology is a symphony where everythng sings in harmony) waking up and reviving everything! For me the feeling is more of a smooth, calm, centered feeling when I lift up from Arda Kurmasana. And I LOVE the double set on this one...the longer the better!

Isnt it funny Chrissy and Lisa...locking sounds difficult but its the exact thing that makes these asanas feel so easy! Locking is the key!