Crane Opens Wings and Spreads Wings Behind (5 Animals)

Video Transcript

Audio File

Wellness for Educators Podcast · Crane Opens Wings and Spreads Wings Behind (5 Animals)

Instructions

Begin with feet together and one hand resting inside the other, palms up, in front of the body. Draw a deep breath into the abdomen; as you exhale, step out to the left to shoulder-width; spread the hands apart, rotating the palms to face down.
Form your forearms and hands into “wings” by keeping the hands flat and fingers extended but connected to each other. The line from the elbow to the fingertips is straight.
Place feet together and put your weight on the left leg with the left toes pointing at a 30 degree angle to the left.
#1 - Inhale and step forward onto the right heel as you raise your arms to chest height in front of you, pointing together forward with the palms down.
#2 - On the same inhale shift your weight forward onto the right foot as you spread your arms apart until they are wide to either side like open wings, palms facing forward and the chest arching slightly forward. (Do not bend so far that the knee extends over the toes.)
#3 - Exhale and shift weight back to the left leg as you drop your arms down together in front of you, fingers pointing down and palms facing the front of the pelvis. Round your shoulders slightly to feel a stretch between the shoulder blades.
#4 - Inhale again as you shift the weight onto your right foot once more, this time rotating your arms so that the hands are to either side of your waist, palms up and elbows facing back. Arch the back somewhat to get a stretch in the chest.
#5 - Exhale and shift weight back to the left leg again, rounding the shoulders and bringing your hands together in front of you, knuckles facing each other and almost touching.
Step the right foot back even with the left, turning the right toes out about 30 degrees to the right. Step forward with the left heel and repeat steps 1-5 again, this time to the left side.
Keep alternating sides and repeating the crane actions for as long as feels good.
Close the exercise by inhaling and sweeping the arms up and out from the sides of the body until the hands hover just above the head, palms down. Exhale and slowly draw both hands down and towards the Dantian (the body’s energy storehouse), located one and a half inches below the navel. Align the palms and place both hands, palms-inward, over the Dantian as you take one more deep breath into the abdomen.
Step the left foot in towards the right to finish.