Simple Monthly Home Practice - Camel Pose

In my college years, decades ago, I was introduced to yoga at the tiny school I attended in St. Louis. Our teachers were sophisticates from New York and we, most of us from the midwest, had no idea what yoga was. 'Extra curriculars' were de riguer. Yoga was definitely not the norm. In the mid 90's after moving to Los Angeles, I began to take yoga a little more seriously and fell under the wise containment of Saul David Raye. Since then it has been a part of my life... so much so that I cannot imagine what my body might even feel like without it. I'm fond of camel pose. In fact, I crave camel pose. After a long day of sitting in traffic or dodging the psychic energies of a vata driven city, a few moments of camel is the perfect anecdote to a closed off throat and chest. I sleep a little better and don't wake up crumbled over like someone clinging to driftwood.
Camel pose. Don't go to sleep without it.

To get into camel pose:

1. "Stand" on your knees in a kneeling position
2. Place the palms of your hands on your low back, draw the shoulder blades in towards each other and down the back, take a few calm breaths until you feel internally that the body is ready to open
3. Press the hips forward as you roll the chest open and the navel up towards the ceiling, staying strong in your core as you bend backwards
4. If this is enough, stay here and keep the backbend with hands on your low back
5. If you are ready, and it does not hurt the low back, reach the hands back to take hold of the heels. Keep drawing the shoulder blades in towards each other and open the chest. Feel the heart opening like a thousand petaled lotus flower. With each inhale, let the heart soften and expand. With each exhale, relax. Slowly roll up the way you came into the backbend, with control and strength in your core
6. Sit back on your heels and soak up the juicy heart opening backbend