Shashankasan (Hare pose)

The running world needs to settle down a little bit. It is very important to sit down and think of yourself. you have to be selfish for your own sake. To maintain your health and to refresh your mind you need some time just for yourself. In that time you can practice meditation or yoga. You can practice some of the easiest yoga poses to distress yourself and to release tension from your body. Yoga can be beneficial in reducing anxiety, stress, anger, and depression. yoga will enhance your mood and make you feel light. You can practice some of the simplest yoga poses and enhance your mood.

One such pose is shashankasan. Shashankasan is a Sanskrit word. The meaning of the name is Shash means hare, Ank means lap ,Asan is a pose. Hence, the Shashank pose is called the hare pose in English. This pose has different names. People often call it, rabbit pose or moon pose. The pose has various hidden benefits. This pose enhances blood circulation and improves back pain. Practicing hare pose will help you in strengthening your spine and enhance the overall health of the spine. This is an easy pose and can be practiced by people of all age groups. You can master this pose easily and in no time. All you need is to practice the pose daily. 15 minutes of practice will be enough in mastering the pose. You can also practice some of the preparatory poses like the staff pose or thunderbolt pose.
Benefits:

• Stretch: This pose will stretch the lower back muscles and release the tension. It will strengthen your lower back muscles and improve the blood flow in the area.
• strengthen: This pose will strengthen the spine, lower back, arms, and shoulder. The stretch will enhance the strength in the area.
• Posture: Practicing this pose is beneficial in improving your posture. This pose will straighten your spine and stretch your shoulder and neck and hence improve the posture of an individual.
• Tones the pelvic muscles: This pose will tone the pelvic muscles. This is a great pose to practice if you want to tone the pelvic muscles. The posture will stretch your pelvic muscles and hence tone up.
• Digestion: Practicing this pose will enhance our digestive system. It gives massage to our digestive system and improves the overall health of our digestive system.
• Gastric: This pose will release all the gases and relieves you from the discomfortable feeling of this. It also helps in reducing bloating. practicing this pose regularly will massage your abdomen and release the excessive gases and bloating caused by certain things.
• Abdomen organs: This pose strengthens the abdomen organs. this pose stretches your abdomen and also massages it. The gentle stretch and the massage will warm up your abdomen and help thus prevent you from various diseases.
• Sexual disorders: This pose will cure various sexual disorders. It will massage your abdomen and stimulate the pelvic. The stimulated pelvic thus helps in decreasing the sexual diseases. It also enhances sexual strength.
• Back pain: Practicing this pose will prevent back pain. This pose is also beneficial in a slipped disc. It will also help in herniated and prolapsed discs.
• Adrenal glands: Practicing this pose will regulate the function of the adrenal gland. It will massage your organs and keep them warm. The warmth then improves the overall health of your adrenal gland.
• Activate solar plexus and third eye chakra: Solar plexus is a complex of ganglia and radiating nerve of the sympathetic system at the pit of the stomach. The third eye chakras connect us with our inner self. This pose helps us in activating the solar plexus and the third eye chakra by stimulation. The process of the forehead touching the floor and pressurizing the abdomen results in activating the chakras.
• Reproductive system: This pose massages your reproductive organs and enhances the health of the reproductive organs.
• Overcome obesity: This pose induces digestive fire and hence results in enhancing metabolism. This further burns the excessive fat from your thighs, belly, and waist.
• Reduces stress and anxiety: This pose enhances the venous blood in your body. It pressurizes the legs and abdomen and hence increases the blood flow to the heart and other parts of the body. The oxygen-carrying blood will flow to the head, neck, and back. It soothes the brain and reduces stress and anxiety.
• Control diabetes: Practicing this pose helps an individual in controlling diabetes. This pose will pressurize your abdomen and stimulate the pancreas. The pancreas will result in the secretion of insulin. The secretion of insulin is responsible for controlling diabetes.

Technique:
Step 1: Sit on the floor in vajarasan. Adjust yourself accordingly.
Step 2: Slightly apart your legs from the knees. Keep your toes touched in such a way that you can fix your hips in between the legs and touch the floor.
Step 3: Place your buttocks between the gap of your parted legs and keep your back, hands straight.
Step 4: Now bend yourself to the forward direction and your hands should touch your toes or in the backward direction. Do not force your breathing. Breath naturally.
Step 5: Hold on to the pose for at least 5 minutes.
Step 6: Relax and get back to the initial position.
Precautions:

• Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from a back injury. This pose might enhance the condition and increase the injury.
• Do not practice this pose in case of neck injury. This pose stretches your back and hence practicing the pose during injury might increase the problem.
• Do not practice this pose if you have just recovered from surgery.
• Consult your doctor before practicing the pose if you are suffering from butt injury. This pose might worsen your situation.
• Do not practice this pose in case of a hernia. A person suffering from a hernia must consult their doctor or yoga instructor before practicing this pose.
• Pregnant women must not practice this pose. This pose pressurizes your abdomen and might cause some serious consequences. Hence, an individual needs to avoid the practice during pregnancy.
• Consult your doctor before practicing this pose in case of high or low blood pressure. This pose will increase the blood flow and might worsen your condition.
• Do not practice this pose if you are feeling dizzy or fatigued.

Props and modification:

• Place a blanket underneath if you are not comfortable in seating on the floor.
• Use yoga bricks to support your hips if you are not able to sit on the floor.
• Place a yoga brick under your head if you can’t touch the ground.
• As to modify this pose touch your head to the knees and lift your body straight.