Today’s Poses: Seated Straddle and Knee to Chest Pose

Seated Straddle and Knee to Chest Pose

Seated Straddle

This asana is a good preparatory pose for most other seated bends and twists. This asana is also beneficial for the wide-legged standing poses. When you assume this pose, your legs are rooted in the earth and stretched, the spinal column is relaxed, and your brain is calmed. Take a look at what this incredible seated forward bend can do to you.

1. To begin this asana, sit erect, and open up your legs such that they are at a 90-degree angle with your pelvis.
2. Let your toes point up as you flex your feet and align your knees. You must feel a curve in your lower back. If you don’t, use a prop. Sit on a firm cushion. This will give your pelvis stability and allow it to tilt forward, apart from retaining that lower back curve
3. Place your palms on the floor, such that they are behind your hips.
4. Inhale, long and deep, such that the sides of the body lift, thereby creating a space or hollow in the spine. Hold for a few seconds if you feel a good stretch in your legs at this point.
5. Now supporting your lower back, and sucking your stomach in, exhale and fold. Gently move your hands in front of you.
6. Use your breath as a guide to how much you can stretch, and stretch your spine as much as you can. Stop when you begin to feel uncomfortable. Breathe long and deep as you hold the pose for about a minute.
7. Exhale and gently come back up. Bend your knees and pull your legs back together.

The Benefits Seated Straddle

These are some amazing Upavistha Konasana benefits:

1. This asana gives the insides and the back of the legs a good stretch.
2. The abdominal organs are toned and stimulated.
3. The spine becomes strong.
4. The groin is released. The adductor muscles of the groin also get stretched.
5. This asana relaxes your body and calms your brain.
6. It also detoxifies the kidneys.
7. Your hamstrings are stretched.
8. Your core muscles are activated.

Knee to Chest Pose

A classic yoga posture, Knees-to-Chest Pose has many therapeutic benefits. Because it’s performed on your back, it is sometimes referred to as “Supine Knees-to-Chest Pose.”

1. Begin by lying on your back, with your legs and arms extended.
2. As you exhale, draw both of your knees to your chest. Clasp your hands around them. If it is possible for you, wrap your forearms over your shins and clasp each elbow with the opposite hand.
3. Keep your back flat on the mat. Release your shoulder blades down toward your waist. Broaden across your collar bones.
4. Draw your tailbone and sacrum down toward the mat, lengthening your spine even more.
5. If it is comfortable for you to do so, softly rock backward and forward or side-to-side for a gentle spinal massage.
6. Tuck your chin slightly and gaze down the centerline of your body.
7. Hold for up to one minute. Keep your breath smooth and even.
8. With an exhalation, release and extend both legs along the floor and rest. Repeat up to six times.

Benefits of Knees-to-Chest Pose

Relief from excess digestive air, indigestion, bloating, flatulence, acidity, and constipation. It is often recommended for those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome.

In addition, this pose helps to keep your low back limber. It is often used as a soothing counter-pose to backbends and spinal twists. Because your body is compact in the pose, your thoughts are more easily drawn inward, which is useful for calming the mind and rebalancing your energy.

Seated Straddle and Knee to Chest Pose have the effect of calming the mind and rebalancing your energy. Try these poses with Youveda’s Guided Yoga Series.