Eagle Pose Garurasana is the first twist in the bikram yoga series.

By the time you get to this pose, you should be sweating!

In Eagle Pose Garurasana you cut off blood flow to the right side of the body and then the left.  It is the first time in class that you begin to to transfer, move, and use the oxygenated blood that you have been working so hard to create.

For most, the first couple times you try this posture it often feels impossible.

Here are 4 tips to twisting yourself into a knot and making yourself the shortest person in the room:

1. Step One in this pose is to twist your arms.  Once you bring your right arm under the left, focus on getting your hands together next.  I know it might feel like it might never happen, but the more you visualize it happening the sooner it will!
2. Then work for the foot wrap.  Focus on pointing your toe back towards the calf you want it to tuck under.  The twist initiates at the toe.  Once you get the tuck, however, work to relax your foot as much as possible.
3. Breath!  Once again the posture starts with your breath.  Maintain normal breathing as you set the posture up.  Normal breathing means to take long slow inhales and long slow exhales.  Once you get into the posture, work on sitting down more with your exhales  and arching your upper body back more with your inhales.
4. Make sure you sit down as low as possible to start the posture.  Arch back as much as possible.  Then work to keep the body weight in your heel.  

Muscles Contracting:

• Hamstrings
• latissimus dorsi
• abdominals
• rhomboids
• Ankle Stabilizers

Stretches: 

• Opens up the 12 major joints of the body: heels, ankles, hips, shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
• Lengthens and stretches the leg muscles, most specifically the glutes and IT band.
• The posterior muscles of the rotator cuff specifically the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor muscles.

Compresses:

• Ankle Joint, Knee Joint, Hip Joint, Elbow Joint, and Wrist joint breaking down scar tissue.  

Stimulates:

• Reproductive system and sex organs.
• Kidneys
• Lymphatic System
• Central Nervous system
• Immune System

Bikram says Eagle Pose Garurasana Benefits us by:

• Improves flexibilities in the hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists.
• Eagle Pose supplies fresh blood to the reproductive system and sex organs, plus the kidneys, which increases sexual vitality and helps clear up reproductive problems.
• Improves the function of the lymphatic system
• Improves concentration and balance
• Energizes the entire body completing the Bikram warm up by flushing blood from one side of the body to the other.
• Stimulates better immune system function
• Improves mobility of hip joints and balance
• Strengthens the legs and calves
• Good for improving varicose veins
• Flushes out the kidneys improving the filtration of minerals such as calcium and sodium.
• Good for Stress Reduction