The focus of this posture is stretching of the legs upward. The starting point is lying on the back, arms alongside the body and the knees folded over the chest. As you inhale brings the arms up and over the head while stretching the legs up. As you exhale bring the arms back alongside the body and the knees back to a folded position over the chest.
As always, respect your limits. You may find that you cannot brings you legs in a straight position all the way up to a 90 degree angle to the body. This is fine. You should try to reach and go no further then a 90 degree angle between your upper-leg/thighs and torso – doing this will insure you that no unnecessary effort is placed on your abdominal muscles. To do this you may need to keep the knees slightly bent.
As with previous postures we’ve visited – please continue to pay attention to correct placement of the arms and the neck.
Try to avoid placing your feet too far apart, too close together , or, when in the correct position from letting your knees fall open to the sides.
Also try to avoid having your feet too far or too close to your body – a middle-ground is usually a good place to start. You may try a few variations until you discover a placement that gives you good support and good mobility.
Apanasana is a gentle practice. It carefully works the lower back. If you stay within your boundaries then you should experience very little effort in the abdominal area – which also relaxes and softens. It is an opportunity to practice a long and peaceful 
