Stretch and strengthen your entire body as you open your heart and improve your mood with Wheel Pose!

Wheel Pose or Full Wheel Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana), also called Upward Bow Pose, is an advanced yoga backbend pose that strengthens and stretches your entire body from head to toe, including your wrists, shoulders, chest, hips, hamstrings, and upper and lower back. Wheel Pose is a heart-opening pose which is thought to counteract depression and negative moods and help you find a deeper connection to the universe, and it may also help with infertility issues.

If you are new to this pose, you may wish to use props to help with proper form. Placing a large block between your feet can help you to keep them parallel, or you can also place a block between your upper thighs and grip it as you move through the pose to keep your thighs and hips in proper alignment. You can also loop a strap around your arms to keep your elbows parallel as you lift up into the pose.

Those with carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis in the wrists, high blood pressure, frequent headaches, or chronic back or shoulder pain may want to avoid this pose.

Here is a helpful tutorial from Gaia.com to help you master Wheel Pose: