Our bodies evolved to take care of us in feast or famine. To stay alive when there was a shortage of food/calories, our bodies learned to become super-efficient at slowing down our metabolism and hoarding fat stores when faced with deprivation. Too few daily calories = famine as far as your body is concerned. So, with terrible irony, getting your body to burn the fat stores that lead to weight loss by severely restricting calories day after day is about as likely as getting a bone away from a hungry dog: it’s gonna fight you.

There’s an excellent, more in-depth discussion of this at the Weight Loss Resources site (link below), but in the interim remember that successful long-term weight loss involves “not-too-few” as well as ”not-too-many” calories!

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/burning_calories/starvation.htm

Benefits:
• Opens the chest and rib cage to enhance breathing
• Energizes & rejuvenates the nervous system
• Stretches open abdominal area to relieve congestion and promote healthy organ functioning

Contraindications:
• Pain or intense discomfort in lower back or neck

Props:
1 firm blanket or 2 large towels, plus one smaller blanket or towel
1 blanket to use as a cover (optional)
1 eye pillow (optional)

Set Up

Set up:
• In a quiet area, fold the large blanket or 2 large towels into long rectangles.
If using the 2 towels, stack one directly on top of the other.
• Create a roll of the small towel and place it where you want your head to rest.

Entering the posture:
• Sit on one side of the long rectangular blanket(s) with your back to the blanket.
• Keep the knees bent and feet on the floor as you lower yourself down over the rectangular blanket.  Your butt should rest on the floor on one side of the blanket and your shoulders should rest on the floor on the other side of the blanket so that the center of your back is lifted and supported by the blanket.
• Take the small rolled towel and place it under the curve of the neck.  Don’t use it as a pillow to rest the head.  The roll supports the neck and the head tilts back slightly, resting on the floor.  If using an eye pillow, place it gently over the eyes.
• Let the arms rest out to the sides between the back blanket and the neck roll.
• Take several breaths here and make sure that you feel supported and your body is relaxing into the posture.

In the Posture

In the posture:
• Keep the knees bent and feet on the floor for the first few minutes.  After that, if you are quite comfortable and would like to stretch the legs out along the ground, do so.
• As long as you are experiencing NO pain, stay in the posture at least 3-5 minutes.  You can stay up to 15-20 minutes if you like.

Coming Out

Coming out:
• To come out of the pose, first bend the knees and bring the feet to the floor.
• If you are using an eye pillow, keep the eyes closed as you remove the eye pillow and place it to the side.
• Place a hand under the neck and head and gently roll to either side and rest on the side for a few breaths.
• When ready, use the arms to help you press up to sitting, letting the neck and head roll up behind you.
• Move slowly and pay attention to how the breath is moving in the body and how the mind and body feel in the coming minutes and hours.