STANDING HALF FORWARD BEND (Ardha Uttanasana)
STANDING HALF FORWARD BEND
A component of the Sun Salute and a difficult pose for beginners to feel.
Proprioception ‘is the sense of the relative position of neighboring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement’ (Wikipedia).
That’s a fancy way of knowing where your body and limbs are in space, and how to move them according to verbal cues.
Upper backs will often stay rounded and just the elbows will straighten so I find it helpful to place my palm in between a student’s shoulder blades and ask them to PUSH up into my hand. This helps locate sensation in the area.
In Standing Forward Bend, we lengthen the spine by lifting the torso off the fronts of the thighs, increasing the distance between your pubic bone and navel.
ALIGNMENT
In STANDING FORWARD BEND (Uttanasana), lift the torso off the fronts of the thighs.
Let the palms rest anywhere on the mat, ankle, shins or knees.
WORK IN THE POSE
Lift the inner arches of the feet to activate the insides of the legs. Firm the outer shins toward the midline.
Look forward without compressing the back of the neck.
Pull the shoulders down away from the ears as you reach through the crown of the head.
Catherine Tingey
Entrepreneur, yogini, designer, award-winning filmmaker, personal trainer and former marathon runner. She left a career in finance to start her own business and along the way, became a yoga teacher. She has been practicing yoga for 31 years and teaching privately for 11 years.
About the Author
Catherine Tingey+ Entrepreneur, yogini, designer, award-winning filmmaker, personal trainer and former marathon runner. She left a career in finance to start her own business and along the way, became a yoga teacher. She has been practicing yoga for 31 years and teaching privately for 11 years.
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