The Lightning Bolt is a yoga pose that will greatly benefit your ankles, which are normally somewhat ignored. Having stiff or sore ankles can be disastrous if they are not loosened up, because of the risk of injuries. Having stiff ankles can also greatly affect your levels or performance when it comes to running or other athletics, which is why ankles need to be kept limber and healthy.

Our ankles are extremely important, because without them, how would we walk? Ankle injuries, such as rolling your ankle or breaking it completely, can be caused by having stiff ankles for a long period of time. Getting the kinks out of our bodies is very important so we can go through our daily lives without worrying. Yoga gives us a way to release stress, tension and worries, while also removing some of the kinks that we have built up.

To begin the pose, you must kneel down so your behind is sitting on top of your heels, while ensuring that your heels do not sickle outward too much. For beginners or those who have never done the post before, tie your ankles using a scarf or whatever’s handy. However, make sure to not hurt yourself doing so.

Ensure that your torso is as straight and upright as possible, and that your tailbone is fully tucked in. You also want to make sure that your ribs are not jutting out. While in the pose, you could also exercise some arm poses to benefit your shoulders. The Lightning Bolt pose not only benefits your ankles greatly, but also allows you to do other poses for your arms and other body parts.

Other poses to consider doing at the same time could be the Gomokasana arms, or Head of the Cow, which is done by pointing on of your elbows down to the ground, and pointing the other up towards the ceiling. Your hands should be clasped behind your back or your neck for the Gomokasana as well. There are also parts of the famous Eagle Pose that could be done while doing the Lightning Bolt post, mainly the arm exercises.

For the Lightning Bolt pose, you can also intermittently lean out a little bit and turn your feet underneath your behind to kneel for a while. Switching back and forth from this for however long you want is totally up to you, but either way, this pose looses up your stiff ankles and is very beneficial.