Loosen up with Horseshoe Falls
Unroll your mat and practise this position with a view of Niagara’s thundering falls
If you like your yoga served up in postcard-perfect locales, then say Namaste Niagara. I unrolled my yoga mat on the lower observation deck at Journey Behind the Falls to bring you a pose we’re calling Horseshoe Falls. This twist on three-legged downward-facing dog is an exuberant pose that stretches the muscles of the thigh and anterior hip. 1. Begin on all fours in quadruped with your hands placed shoulder distance apart and knees at hip distance. Walk your hands a palm’s length towards the front border of your mat and press them firmly into the earth. 2. Curl your toes under and lift your hips up and back until your body resembles the sloping lines of a capital letter A. 3. Raise your right leg as you fill with breath. 4 Keeping the thigh sky-high, bend your right knee and reach that foot towards your left outer hip to create a graceful waterfall contour. 5. Maintain equal pressure in the two hands and level your shoulder while aspiring to touch the sky with your lifted kneecap. 6. Take a five-breath journey into the experience before lowering the leg and switching sides. Namaste Niagara Namaste Niagara, Niagara Parks’ exclusive yoga series at Journey Behind the Falls, returns for four select Sundays this summer.
Admission offers private access to Journey Behind the Falls, a 45-minute morning yoga session on the lower observation deck and a locally sourced brunch at the historic Queenston Heights, one of Niagara Parks’ five Feast On certified restaurants. YuMee Chung is a recovering lawyer who teaches yoga in Toronto. She is on the faculty of a number of yoga teacher training programs and leads international yoga retreats. Learn more about her at padmani.com