Standing Forward Bend Pose (Uttanasana) will soothe
your mind. It is a calming posture that lengthens the hamstrings and activates
the inner legs.
Method: This pose stretches
the back of the body entirely. You must prepare for it, so always remember to
warm up before you get into this asana. Here are steps to follow:
Step 1: Stand erect and
rest your hands on your hips. Inhale as you raise your arms. Exhale and bend
forward from the hip joints rather than the waist. As you descend draw the
front torso out of the groins and open the space between the pubis and top
sternum.
Step 2: Keeping your knees
straight, place your fingertips or palms on the floor beside your feet, or
touch the back of your ankles with your palms. Let your hands rest on the
ground, next to your feet. Let your chest float over your feet. Widen the space
between your chest bone and pubis. Turn your thighs inward, and root yourself into
your heels. This will allow better alignment.
Step 3: Let your head hang
from the root of the neck, which is deep in the upper back, between the
shoulder blades. Bring your weight a little bit forward into the balls of your
feet so that your hips stay over your ankles.
Step 4: To exit the pose,
return your hands to your hips and slowly lift up, keeping the length in the
front and back of your torso. Don't roll the spine to come up. Instead bring
your hands back onto your hips and reaffirm the length of the front torso. Then
press your tailbone down and into the pelvis and come up on an inhalation with
a long front torso. Slowly stand up.
Special Tips: Emphasize the
perfection of technique. Let it be performed just after Spot Jumping exercise
to get more flexibility and stamina.
You
must make sure to keep your stomach and bowels empty before you practice this
asana. Have your meals at least more than two hours before you do the asana so
that your food get digested and there is enough energy for you to expand during
the practice.
Modifications and Variations: You may need to modify this pose if
it is uncomfortable or difficult at first. Once you have mastered the usual
form, set a new goal and work to master a harder technique. As a beginner, it
might be hard to increase the stretch. To make it easier, gently bend your
knees, and imagine the sacrum sinking deep into the back part of the pelvis.
Now, decrease the distance between your tailbone and the pubis. As you feel the
resistance, push the top part of your thighs back and press your heels down.
Straighten your knees. But be sure you don’t lock your knees when you
straighten them.
After bending forward, slide the index and middle fingers of each
hand in between the big toe and second toe of each foot. Then curl the fingers
under the bottom and around the big toe and wrap your thumb around your
fingers. With an inhalation straighten your arms and lift your front torso away
from your thighs, making your back as concave as possible. Hold for a few
breaths, then exhale and lengthen down and forward, bending your elbows out to
the sides.
Benefits: Traditionally, Standing Forward Bend Pose is
said to help relieve insomnia. It not only heals but also rejuvenates your
body. In this pose, your head is below the heart, and this allows for blood
circulation in your head instead of your feet, giving your cells a rush of
energizing oxygen. It eases symptoms of menopause, asthma, high blood pressure,
infertility, headaches, and insomnia. Take a look at what more this amazing
pose can do for you!
It is regarded as a relaxing and stress-relieving pose. It calms
the brain and helps relieve stress and mild hopelessness. It calms the mind and
balances the nervous system. It reduces anxiety, depression and fatigue. It
relieves headache and restlessness.
It relieves tension in the spine, neck, and back. It keeps your
spine strong and flexible. It can relieve tension in the lower back when
practised with bent knees. It stretches the back of the legs, the hips and
spine. It also strengthens the legs, thighs and knees. It not only activates
the abdominal muscles but it also stimulates the kidneys, liver and spleen.
It stretches and lengthens the hamstrings, hips and calves. It is
common to have tight hamstrings if you run or play a sport that involves lots
of running.
Results of this pose and
the preceding exercise may vary from person to person depending upon many
factors such as technique used, availability of time, age, health condition,
regularity, discipline, mood, interest and so forth.
Final Position: Now enter into Natural Standing Posture and relax
your body.
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