Half Chair Pose
Half Chair Pose
Do you ever find it hard to determine how stressed/grounded you may be? I suffer from this sometimes.
Grounding and Standing Balancing postures are wonderful check-ins for ourselves. If your mind is scattered at that moment, these postures will be difficult to hold.
This family of postures invite us to slow down, feel our feet on the ground, direct the attention of our gaze (drishti) and come into the moment!
That’s why I love them.
Tree Pose (Vrksasana) is usually the first Balancing posture students learn in classical yoga.
Once you feel comfortable in Tree pose, you can try Half Chair.
As in all standing balance postures, utilize your *drishti.
*Softly focus your gaze on a downward slope.
**For added challenge, gaze upwards.
***For the overachievers, try closing your eyes.
Half Chair Pose (Ardha Utkatasana)
ALIGNMENT
From Mountain Pose Tadasana, align your drishti.
Shift weight onto one foot. Lift the inner arch, drawing the inseam of the leg upwards.
Float the other foot off the ground. If you feel unstable, stay here and practice Steps 1 -3.
Set the ankle on the top of the knee and flex the foot, placement similar to Reclined Pigeon.
Lift the arms but soften the shoulder blades down.
Sit down into a Chair.
WORK IN THE POSE
Sit by reaching the tail back
Keep the standing leg’s knee over the ankle
Keep working the chest towards vertical (versus folding over the leg)
Bring the inner biceps in line with ears
BENEFITS
Strengthens legs, ankles, feet and shoulder girdle
Improves balance and focus
CONTRAINDICATIONS
Knee or ACL/MCL surgeries
Low blood pressure
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