Cobra Pose from Plank's Connected Perspective...

ON THE MAT:

Although it's nearly the end of February, the month where love is often top of mind and heart, it never gets old to have a fresh look on one of the basics of heart openers.

Here we look at Cobra Pose from Plank's connected perspective. Our goal is to find the broadest spreading and lift of the collar bones to let that heart burst through and open out.

• With a non intentional light hand to mat connections, notice the range of motion in the ball and socket joint of the shoulders. Are the collar bones able to spread 1-2 inches? Is the heart able to lift? 
• With an intentional broad and full palm (inside and outside edges of fingers, knuckles, metacarpal and four corners of the hand), notice if the ability to rotate the ball joint in its socket is broad and safe, leading to expansion across the collar bones. Notice the ability to create strong and integrated upper thoracic back muscles that can support a higher lift of the heart.

OFF THE MAT:

February is a great month, it's my birthday, it's Valentine's Day, lots of reasons to love this month! Admittedly, I used to wish February would just go by quickly and quietly, as it's my birthday, it's Valentine's etc., which in the past would add a host of reasons to be insecure and wonder 'Does Anybody Love Me'? To answer that unanswerable question, one tip I use, has been to go get connected and find out. So I got connected and thankfully for me, I found out there are some folk out there that do and some that have always. Aw shucks, warm and fuzziness in the air. :) 

Thanks to my friend, Dana Santas, Pro Sports Mobility Expert/Yoga Trainer to the NHL Lightning, MLB Pirates, Phillies and dozens more teams and pro-athletes, for including Plank's heat activated connect mats in her feature on heart openers to combat the Smartphone Slump on The Daytime TV Show. View more pictures here and her video segment from the show here.

Plank Yoga Mats are the only mats committed to teaching yogis to build their own solid foundations so maybe one day they will be able to practice without a mat. We'd love to hear from you if you noticed higher heart lifts, broader collar bones and/or a larger range of motion in the shoulder joints with intentional hand to mat connections. Post your comments below. Happy Heart Opening!