Strike a Yoga Pose: 4-Limbed Staff

4-Limbed Staff pose, also called Chaturanga Dandasana in Sanskrit, is one of the toughest yoga poses to hold. It works yours abs, your back, and your upper arms and shoulders intensively. The thing about doing this pose, is once you get the right technique and you practice it a lot, it'll get easier.

We always do this pose in Sun Salutation A and B, and in between poses, so you'll get to do it a lot during a yoga class.

From Standing Forward Bend pose, you're going to inhale, straighten your arms and back, and look up. You can bend your knees so that you can place your palms flat on the ground.
Bend your knees slightly and step your right foot all the way back and then your left, so that your body is in one straight line. (You can also jump both feet back together). You want your shoulders directly above your wrists. This is called Plank pose. It's like the top of a push-up.
As you exhale, bend your elbows straight behind you so they brush against the sides of your body. You want to try to keep your body parallel to the ground. Draw your belly button up towards your spine to protect your lower back. Work on keeping your shoulders parallel with your elbows. This is called 4-Limbed Staff pose

Eventually the three moves all flow together with no breaks or holds in between, so you go from looking up in the the Standing Forward Bend (1st photo), straight into 4-Limbed Staff pose (3rd photo). Practice bending your knees and jumping both feet back at the same time, and lowering your body, all in one exhale.