independently.Salabhasana: Step by Step1. Lie on the floor, face down. Ensure you keep your lips, nose and forehead in contact with your mat throughout this pose. Have your palms facing the floor, and rock your body from side to side as you slide your hands

the ground, up to 1.5 times your body weight can reverberate up through your skeleton. This force – officially called ground reaction force – contributes to tight hips. “Stretching the spine out may help prevent dreaded back ache. A healthy spine and flexible

as welcome respite after the intensity of the Triangle and Stick poses. Tree gives you a chance to open your hips, improve your posture and as always with Bikram, strengthen your core muscles, glutes, hams and quads.Tadasana: Step by Step1. Stand with your

, as it requires flexibility from both sets of muscles. Padangustasana: Step by Step1. Set up as Tree, but find a point on the floor about three feet in front of you where you can fix your gaze, and don't avert your eyes from that point throughout the whole posture

If there was ever a pose to focus the mind of a runner, Tuladandasana (or balancing stick pose) is it. With four ten-second bursts of pulse-racing intensity, the pose often feels like 90 per cent mind : 10 per cent matter. Like most yoga postures

, almost impossible.But as long as you're engaging the right muscles, it doesn't matter if you're not quite producing Cirque du Soleil-level postures: you'll still be achieving the same results.Dandayamana Dhanurasana: Step by Step1.     Stand with your

is very common for runners, and strengthening these joints, which can take ground reaction forces of up to 1.5 times your body weight each time your foot hits the ground.''Because the posture is broken down into three parts, with two sets to each posture

.'Pranayama breathing: step by step1. To begin the posture, stand with your feet together, toes and heels touching. Contract your quads and stand up tall with your shoulders relaxed. 2. Interlock your fingers and place your knuckles under your chin. Keep your knuckles

to steady your balance. Once you can balance here, you're ready to start the pose.Dandayamana Janushirasana: Step by Step1. Stand with your feet together, toes and heels touching. Shift your body weight to your left leg, and lock this leg according

Alexandra Rees is a qualified sport and exercise scientist, ex-club runner and Bikram yoga devotee of six years, who can now touch her toes with sickening ease.Like Kerry McCarthy, who in our first blog admitted that he thought yoga was solely