Uttanasana
(oot-tan-AH-suh-nuh)
ut = intense; tan = to stretch or extend (cognate with Latin verb tendere, “to stretch or extend,” cognate with English “tension”)
Intense Stretch Pose, commonly called Standing Forward Bend
Benefits: Calms the brain. stretches the hamstrings, calves, and hips, strengthens the thighs
1. Stand in Tadasana, hands on hips (see the Asana Breakdown for September). Exhale and lengthen forward from the hip joints, not from the waist. As you descend draw the front torso out of the groins and open the space between the pubis and navel. As in all the forward bends the emphasis is on lengthening the front torso as you move more fully into the pose.
2. If possible, with your knees straight or slightly bent, and maintaining the length of the front torso, press your palms or fingertips on the floor, either slightly in front of or beside your feet. If this isn’t possible, cross your forearms and hold your elbows with the opposite-side hands.
3. Press the bases of the big toes firmly into the floor, spread the balls of the feet, and lift inner ankles. You can pull up on the ankles witih your hands to get that action. Then from that lift, draw imaginatively up along the inner thighs to the groins, then lift the groins deep into the pelvis. Rotate the thighs slightly inward, but keep the center of the knee caps, as if they were a pair of eyes, looking straight forward. Spread the buttocks out from the mid-line of the sacrum, soften the outer hips, and imaginatively lengthen down the outer legs to the ankles.
4. With each inhale, lift the front torso just slightly and lengthen between the pubis and navel; with each exhale release a little more fully into the forward bend. In this way the torso oscillates almost imperceptibly with the breath. Let your head hang from the root of the neck, which is deep in the upper back, between the shoulder blades.
5. Uttanasana can be used as a resting position between the standing poses. Stay in the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute. It can also be practiced as a pose in itself for anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes.
6. 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 tail bone down and into the pelvis and come up on an inhale with a long front torso.
- Contraindications: If you have a serious back injury, do this pose with bent knees, or perform Ardha Uttanasana (pronounced are-duh = half) with your hands pressed to a wall, legs perpendicular to and torso and arms parallel to the floor.
- Modifications & Props: To increase the stretch on the backs of the legs, stand in the forward bend with the balls of your feet elevated an inch or more off the floor on a sand bag or thick book.
- Variations: A more intense variation of Uttanasana is called Padangustasana (not to be confused with Supta Padangustasana). After bending forward, slide your index and middle finger of each hand in between the big toe and second toe of the same-side foot. Then curl the fingers under the bottom of the big toe, wrap the toe, and finally wrap your thumb around the fingers. With an inhale straighten the arms and lift the front torso away from the 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.
- Beginners Tip: To increase the stretch in the backs of your legs when in the pose, bend your knees slightly. Imagine that the sacrum is sinking deeper into the back of your pelvis, and bring the tail bone closer to the pubis. Then, against this resistance, push the top thighs back and the heels down and re-straighten the knees. Be careful not to straighten the knees by locking them back (when doing this exercise you can press your hands against the back of each knee to provide some resistance); instead let them straighten as the two “ends” of each leg move farther apart.
- Advanced Tip: To increase the stretch in the backs of your legs when in the pose, lean slightly forward and lift up onto the balls of your feet, pulling your heels a half-inch or so away from the floor. Draw your inner groins deep into the pelvis, and then, from the height of the groins, lengthen the heels back onto the floor.
- Partnering: The partner can help you increase the stretch on the backs of your legs. Perform Uttanasana as a wall hang. Rest your buttocks against a wall with your heels 6 to 12 inches away from the wall. Bend your knees. Have the partner press firmly against your sacrum. Imagine that the bone is sinking into your pelvis and lengthening through the tail bone, which in turn is growing up the wall. Slowly straighten your knees against this resistance. As above in the Beginners Tip, don’t simply lock the knees back to straighten them; instead resist the back knees slightly forward as the two “ends” of the legs, the heads of the thigh bones and the heels, move apart.