Today’s Poses: Seated Forward Bend and Standing Forward Bend
Seated Forward Bend and Standing Forward Bend
Seated Forward Bend
Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana) is a classic pose from Hatha yoga. It gives the whole back of your body a good stretch, from your calves to your hamstrings (back of the thighs) to your spine.
Steps
Begin by coming to sit in Staff Pose (Dandasana) with your legs straight in front of your body.
- Bring your arms straight out to the sides and up over your head, reaching toward the ceiling.
- Inhale and draw your spine up long.
- As you exhale, begin to come forward, hinging at your hips. Imagine your pelvis as a bowl of water that is tipping forward.
- On each inhale, lengthen your spine. You may come a bit out of your forward bend to do this.
- On each exhale, deepen into your forward bend. Imagine your belly coming to rest on your thighs, rather than your nose coming to your knees. This will help you keep your spine long.
- Keep the neck as the natural extension of your spine, neither cranking it to look up nor letting it go completely.
- When you have come to your full extension with the spine long, decide whether you want to stay here or let your spine round forward.
- Take hold of your ankles or shins, whichever you can reach. You can also use a strap around your feet. Keep your feet flexed strongly throughout.
Benefits
- This pose stretches these areas and helps open up your hips.
- This stretch is excellent for runners who tend to have tight hamstrings.
- It is also considered to be a calming pose. It is said that this pose can help relieve stress and even improve your mood.
Standing Forward Bend
As part of the Sun Salutation sequence, Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) is done often in Vinyasa-style practice. In that sequence, it is performed both near the beginning and at the end. It pays to spend a little extra time in your first few forward bends since your body releases more deeply over a longer hold time.
Standing Forward Bend stretches and lengthens the hamstrings and calves. It is common to have tight hamstrings if you run or play a sport that involves lots of running. It is regarded as a relaxing and stress-relieving pose. Traditionally, it is said to help relieve insomnia.
Steps
- From Raised Hands Pose with the arms reaching overhead, sweep your arms down on either side of your body to come into a forward fold from your hips. This is often called a Swan Dive.
- Bring your fingertips in line with the toes. Press your palms flat to the mat if you can. You can use blocks under your hands here if they don’t reach the floor.
- Micro bend the knees so that they are not locked.
- Engage your quadriceps muscles and draw them up. The more you use your quads, the more the hamstrings (the muscles on the back of the thighs) will open.
- Bring your weight a little bit forward into the balls of your feet so that your hips stay over your ankles.
- Let your head hang.
- To come up, inhale, and place your hands onto your hips. Press your tailbone down and contract your abdominal muscles as you rise up slowly.
Benefits
- Standing Forward Bend stretches and lengthens the hamstrings and calves.
- It is common to have tight hamstrings if you run or play a sport that involves lots of running.
- It is regarded as a relaxing and stress-relieving pose.
- Traditionally, it is said to help relieve insomnia.
