Be barefoot. Lie on your back on a firm surface. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor, close to your body, hip-distance apart, and parallel to each other. Place your arms alongside your body, palms down. Exhale and rotate your pelvis back, pushing the small of your back into the floor. Inhale and lift your back off the floor, vertebra by vertebra, beginning with your tailbone. Keep your knees hip distance apart, activate the muscles at your tailbone, and your chest and hips lifted. Visualize a straight line running from your chin, to your sternum, to your pubic bone. Soften your gaze; quiet your hearing; relax your jaw and throat. Breathe evenly and comfortably throughout the pose. Hold the pose for 15 - 30 seconds, not working into discomfort.

To come out of the pose, resist with your pubic bone and activate the muscles at your tailbone as your spine comes down to the floor, vertebra by vertebra, beginning with your upper back. As you come down, stretch your spine toward your heels.