Sanskrit name
Paschimottanasana
How to do Paschimottanasana
Start sitting in Dandasana. Plant your sitbones firmly on the ground and straighten your spine, reaching out towards the sky. Take care not to lean back with your torso. Your legs and your upper body should be in a 90° angle.
Inhale and lift your arms over your head, straight out to the sky.
Exhale and start bending from your hips forward towards your feet. Keep your spine long and straight.
When you feel the need to round your back stop and stay where you are. Then lower your arms to the ground. These can be on the height of your thighs, knees, calves or touching your toes.
With every inhalation lift and lengthen your spine slightly. Exhale and release towards the ground. Your lower belly should be the first touching your thighs, then upper belly, chest and at last your head.
Be patient. Flexibility will come.
Special focus on
Bend from your hip joints, not the waist.
For beginners: loop a strap around the soles of your feet and hold the ends of the strap firmly. Inhale, pull on the strap to lengthen your spine and to open your chest. Exhale and with the support of the strap bend forward.
Benefits
- Stretches the spine, shoulders, hamstrings
- Massages inner organs: liver, kidneys, ovaries, and uterus
- stimulates digestion
- Calms the brain and reduces headache
- relieves stress and mild depression
- balance menstrual cycle
- Therapeutic for high blood pressure, infertility, insomnia, and sinusitis
Contraindications
Back injuries, diarrhea