. Hold for 30 seconds. The aim of the posture is to have your knee touching your armpit, and this pose will improve the flexibility in your hips to enable you to reach the full expression.5. Repeat on your left leg.6. The final stage of the posture

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

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

you, both contracted.5. To help your balance and open your chest, keep your gaze forward and avoid tucking your chin to your chest. Keep your hips level by slightly rotating your left hip in and down so it's level with your right hip. Your right leg

the way you came in: spine straight, abs contracted and arms above your head with biceps touching the ears.Ardha Kurmasana: The Benefits"Lowering your torso down slowly firms the abdominal muscles and promotes flexibility in the hip joints which are often

. Any dizziness caused by the previous poses will vanish in this posture," says Olga Allon, Director of Hot Bikram Yoga in London. "But don't be deceived, it's tough for anyone with tight hamstrings and hips (i.e., runners). This pose really stretches

-stretching and strengthening section of the floor series, and provides an excellent stretch for your quads and hip flexors.Dhanurasana: Step by Step1. Lie on your front, chin on the floor, legs straight out behind you. Bend your legs at the knees and grab your feet from

stimulate the lymphatic system and immune system." "This posture is great for runners as it provides a a deep hamstring stretch and helps ease any tightness in the ankle and hip joints," she says. "During this posture, you also strengthen the arms and spine

to level your hips to a point where a tray could be balanced on your lower back. If you feel stable enough (keeping your abs tight helps), bring your hands back to prayer position in front of your right foot. Keep your back leg straight and always have your

your gaze forward, left leg locked and keep kicking until you feel you've reached your maximum. You may feel the stretch in your inner thigh on your standing leg.7.     Keeping your hips level, slowly lower your torso until it is parallel to the ground