Lately I’ve been adding this ankle stretch pose into my yoga warmups. It stretches my rhomboids (the muscles on your back between your shoulder blades) engages and strengthens the serratus anterior (the muscles on your ribs that pull your shoulders forward) and gives the ankles and feet a wonderful stretch. I can’t do the classic ankle stretch, my feet are just too boney. I fell in love with this pose the first time I did it. Its a wonderful way to loosen up an area of your back that holds tension from sitting at a desk all day while working on the feet and ankles.

I like to counter it with Thunderbolt pose on my toes. The combo of these counter balancing stretches are really key at bringing life back into your footsies if you’re a runner, cyclist, or just stand on your feet all day.

Spend a nice long moment breathing into the muscles in each pose. Thunderbolt on toes can cause a lot of sensation so feel free to ease into it by bringing your weight forward a bit with your hands on your thighs.