Tabletop

Bharmanasana — "table posture"

Also known as: All Fours, Hands and Knees

The neutral hands-and-knees position that most floor work starts from. Tabletop is where you learn what a level spine actually feels like.

Step by step

1Come to your hands and knees on the mat.
2Stack your wrists directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
3Spread your fingers wide and press evenly through your whole hand, especially the knuckles of the index fingers.
4Let your spine settle into a long, level line — no sagging belly, no rounded back.
5Reach the crown of your head forward and your tailbone back, so the neck stays in line with the spine.
6Gaze down at the mat, just past your fingertips, and breathe steadily.

· Fold a blanket under your knees for cushioning.
· Place a folded towel under the heels of your hands, fingers draping off the edge, to reduce wrist bend.
· Come onto your forearms if bearing weight on your hands doesn't feel right today.

If your knees are sensitive, kneeling on a bare mat can be uncomfortable — pad them well.
Take care with recent wrist strain; keep weight spread through the whole hand or come onto fists or forearms.

This is general practice guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts, ease out of it.

Yoga blanket — Folded under the hips in seated poses, under the knees in kneeling ones, under the shoulders for shoulderstand. A firm household blanket works too. find one
Bolster — The single best restorative purchase. Under the knees, under the spine, or lengthwise under the back to open a gentle supported backbend. find one

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