How To Do Uttanasana:
Stand straight on a mat and let your body calm and relax just take some deep breath and warm up yourself.
One can also begin with Tadasana now gently bend forward with your arms and use the hip joints and tailbone.
Make sure add a little flexibility and try to touch the floor with your palms to enhance flexibility.
Hold the elbows back of the legs and keep your head on the knees and gently breathe with your nose and don’t panic. You will feel an intense stretch on the thighs and hamstrings.
Try to balance your body weight and initially you can hold the posture for 10 to 15 seconds.
Now, slowly come up and just relax the body and repeat it again.
Tips For Mastering Forward Fold Yoga Pose
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If you are new to forward fold, separate your feet hip-width apart or wider to help with balance in the pose.
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If you have tight hips or hamstrings, bend your knees as much as you need to keep your spine long as you fold forward from the hips, not the waist. You might imagine hinging from your hips rather than rounding your lower back.
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To deeply release and lengthen the spine, try bending knees deeply and resting your belly on your thighs. Then gradually straighten the legs by engaging the thigh muscles.
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If you cannot reach the floor with your hands, cross your arms and hold opposite elbows or use a yoga block to bring the floor to you.
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Evenly distribute the body weight in the feet. Most people rock back into their heels when forward bending so try to press through the ball of your big toes while lifting the arch and also grounding through the heels.
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Relax your jaw, face, and neck as you fold forward. Imagine any thoughts, habits or emotions that no longer serve you are releasing into the floor.
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Once you have mastered forward folding from the hips, you can practice bringing arms overhead or out to the side as you fold to increase core stability and strength.
Forward Folds Calm The Mind And Cool The Body
Remember that fantastic feeling forward folds cause that we touched on at the beginning of the article? I think it’s 70 percent because of their ability to calm the mind and cool the body.
During a pretty intense flow, a pause in forward fold is like a quick jolt of cold water at the end of a shower. With your head below your heart, fresh oxygenated blood can rush to your head and rejuvenate you for the next section of a strong sequence. They calm the mind by reducing anxiety and worry, depression, and insomnia.
Forward bends aren’t just essential to a well-rounded yoga asana practice, but they do a whole lotta good for your entire being – mind, body and soul.
We’d love to hear what your favourite forward fold is. Are you a Janu Sirsasana fan? your fold of choice? Or is Paschimottanasa a must-do every visit to your mat? Let’s take a vote!
Bio Mechanics Of Forward Bends
The physical aim of a forward bend is to stretch out any tightness in the tissues along the entire back surface of the body, from the connective tissue on the soles of the feet, to the muscles along the backs of the calves and thighs, to the back of the hips, right the way along the muscles and connective tissue at back of the torso, alongside the spine and across the back of the shoulders, as even the ligaments between the spinal vertebrae themselves.
There are three types of forward bends, and each has its own benefits, and challenges.
Examples: Utthanasana/Standing forward bend, Padottanasana/Standing wide legged forward bend, Parsvottanasana/Side stretch pose
Standing forward bends all move with gravity- in fact gravity accelerates the movement of the torso towards the thighs so much that the muscles along the back of the torso, legs and outer hips must contract to control the descent, and maintain the stability of the hip joints and of the feet on the floor. Because of this need to maintain stability in the standing forward bends, some of these muscles never fully ‘let-go’.
Examples; Paschimottanasana/Seated forward bend Janu Sirsasana/Head to knee pose
Examples; Supta Padangustasana/Supine hamstring stretch, Urdvha Prasarita Padasana/ Upward extended feet pose.
Standing Forward Bend Flow Contraindications
Standing Forward Bend Flow is a beginner level yoga pose that is performed in standing position.Standing Forward Bend Flow additionally involves forward-bend, Stretch, Inversion.Need Standing Forward Bend Flow contraindications? Please to request contraindications of Standing Forward Bend Flow and we will notify you as soon as your request has been completed.
Yoga Practice Tips: Spine
Forward bends are asana staples. Actively lengthening the hamstrings and muscles of the hips helps counteract one of the unhealthy effects of excessive sitting. Forward bending is inherently calming, as long as we approach it with an attitude of ease and curiosity, rather than an attitude of forcefulness.
Forward folds are not as easy as they look though. After decades of teaching, I’ve observed so many students struggling with maintaining spinal integrity, especially in seated forward bends. How you approach forward bending matters. It’s important that we practice not just any forward bends, but spine-healthy forward bends.
Keeping muscles of the hips and hamstrings supple—one of the benefits of forward bending—helps you maintain spinal integrity. Relaxed muscles in the hips and hamstrings help you maintain your spine’s natural “S” curves. Tight hamstrings can position the pelvis so that the tailbone is tucked under, which flattens the lumbar curve—a recipe for possible lumbar disc problems down the road.
It’s important that we maintain continuity between the pelvis and spine while we bend forward. As a general rule of thumb, the pelvis and spine should move together, both to foster continuity and protect the discs, but also to keep the sacroiliac joint in its most stable position.
Warm Up Before Doing Backbends
It is very important to be completely warmed up before doing backbends, especially if you are practicing an intermediate or advanced backbend. Backbends, deep backbends in particular, are best done towards the end of a full practice. Make sure you have done several Sun Salutations, as well many other standing and seated postures before moving onto your backbends.
How To Use Props For Spine
Here’s how to utilize props to create a spine-healthy Seated Forward Bend Pose . Have two to three yoga blankets handy.
Sit on a yoga mat with your legs straight out in front of you, parallel.
Fold a yoga blanket so that it’s about three inches thick. Sit on the blanket so that your pelvis is on the edge and your legs are on the floor. If you feel your pelvis tilting back and your lumbar vertebrae poking out in the back, place another folded blanket under your pelvis.
Roll up another yoga blanket. Bend your knees and place the rolled blanket under your knees. If you happen to have a pranayama pillow, that’s the perfect size for this use.
To move into the forward bend, tip the top of your pelvis forward and lengthen your front body. Extend your tailbone back behind you. In other words, lead the forward bend with your pelvis. Keep your spine long as you come forward. It’s okay to gently flex your spine once your pelvis is tipped forward.
Stay for 5-10 deep breaths, allowing your torso to oscillate to your breathing. Check your arms and shoulders. Are you tensing there? How about your facial muscles and throat? Relax where you can. On an inhalation, come up out of the forward bend.
Reprinted with permission from Hugger Mugger Yoga Products.
How To Do Forward Bend Yoga Asanas
Well, there are many forward bend yoga asanas. Below, you will find a gallery of all forward bend yoga poses. Click the images to get instructions for a particular asana.
When you perform forward bend yoga asanas, become aware of your bending process. Try to bend from your hips and not the neck region. Only when you have reached the limit of bending from the hips, you should go further with the upper back and neck.
During your daily practice, you should follow up your forwards bends with counter backward bend yoga poses. For every forward bend pose there are one or many backward bend poses. Do them together for a smooth yoga routine.
With An Understanding Of How To Perform The Seated Forward Bend Pose Lets Now Discover The Top 7 Health Benefits Of Paschimottanasana
- Encourages Introspection and Calms the Nervous System
The spinal cord is a crucial part of the nervous system housing a gazillion nerves perhaps. When you perform Paschimottanasana, the spinal cord is stretched and space is created between the vertebras which increase blood circulation to all the nerves. This, in turn, soothes the nervous system. With daily practice of the pose, yogis are able to look inward and embark on a journey of self-discovery.
- Fully Stretches the Backside
Yoga gurus from all over theworld recommend Paschimottanasana to those suffering from back pain, stiffness,etc. among other back-stretching asanas. The reason being, the Seated ForwardBen pose stretches the entire back, from the head to the heels.
Regular practice of the pose results in increased flexibility and strength of the spine. The asana is also effective in releasing tension from the lower back, upper back and neck.
- Stimulates and Tones the Internal Organs
Like a majority of the forward fold poses, Paschimottanasana increases blood circulation to all the major abdominal organs such as the kidneys, intestines, liver and pancreas. This boosts metabolism as well as improves digestion ability.
- Cools the Body and Calms the Mind
One of the major health benefits of forward bend pose is that it cools the body andcalms the mind. The pose helps to transport fresh blood to the head helping themind to relax and reduces insomnia, depression and worry.
- Enhances Blood Flow to the Pelvic Region
The Benefits Of Forward Fold Pose For Kids
Forward Fold is a basic yoga pose that is accessible to yogis of all ages and capability. While it is most often done from standing, you can also practice this pose seated in a chair or on the floor.
Forward Fold, like all forward bends, encourages feelings of grounding and introspection while strengthening proprioceptive awareness . It also strengthens vestibular sensing which allows us to maintain balance in the body.
In children’s yoga, we love turning yoga poses into adventures and fun objects. Try being and excavator with Rachel and practice forward fold while digging up dirt and moving it around!
What Do We Need In Order For A Forward Bend To Happen
All three types of forward bend require the spine to initially be in neutral whilst the femurs or the pelvis move-either the femurs move whilst the pelvis stays still to bring the thighs closer to the belly, or the pelvis tilts whilst the femurs stay still to bring the torso closer to the thighs. Whilst both standing and seated forward bends require some spinal flexion at the end range of movement, in all three groups the primary and maximal movement is at the hip joints.
There are three key joints involved in forward bends;
. The hip joints; where the femurs fit into the sockets of the pelvis
. The junction of the pelvis and the spine S1-L5
. The joints of the lower spine; L5-T12
DIAGRAM 1 Spinal vertebrae
DIAGRAM 2 Pelvis and hip joints in Uttanasana
In a moderately flexible person, the degree of forward flexion from upright between the torso and the thighs is a total of 150 degrees. This amount of forwards bend is made up of:
These two pictures show the rotation of the hips from their neutral position in standing to 90 degrees of forward flexion
1. Standing-Tadasana
2. 90 degrees forward flexion at the hips
.18 degrees at the junction of the pelvis and the spine-S1-L5
Relieve Insomnia And Headache:
Insomnia is becoming a world issue and millions of people struggle every night for sleeping. The busy lifestyle, poor eating, and poor lifestyle, stress, or any diseases affect the natural sleeping and sometimes the situation can be worse.
Practicing Uttanasana regularly cures insomnia and treats chronic headaches too. The upper part of the body working opposite gravitation that helps in mind-relaxation.
Health Benefits Of Uttanasana
There are moments of stress in your lives when you just want to switch off from the world for a while and rejuvenate yourself and start anew. Yoga is one such outlet where you can achieve the same. A plethora of postures with innumerable advantages exist in Yoga for everyone. In this article we discuss about a simple yet effective asana which comes with a set of benefits and reviving properties – Uttanasana.
The name Uttanasana , known as the Standing Forward bend Pose, is derived from the Sanskrit words Ut , Tan , and Asana . The end pose leaves in such a position that your head is in a lower stratum than your heart. This enables a gush of blood to the head, revamping the blood cells, leaving you with a sense of novelty. This pose is also highly recommended for people who are fighting asthma or mild depression.
Steps to perform Uttanasana – Standing Forward Bend :
Benefits of Uttanasana – Standing Forward Bend
Contraindications
You need to refrain from practicing this pose if you face chronic problems or have a history of any injury in your knee joints, ankle joints, or back.
Now Lets Take A Look At How Toperform Paschimottanasana Or The Seated Forward Bend Pose
- Sit straightwith the legs stretched out. Keep the toes flexed towards yourself.
- Take a deepbreath and raise your arms upward.
- Now bendforward while exhaling and fold from the hip joints.
- Stretch thearms out as much as you can.
- Take a deepbreath, slightly lift the head and elongate the spine.
- Release yourbreath and try to bring the navel towards the knees.
- Keeprepeating the same a few times.
- Then, keepthe head on the legs and remain in the pose for a few breaths.
- Take a deepbreath and shift to the sitting position.
- Release yourbreath and drop arms.
Easy Pose Forward Bend Contraindications
Easy Pose Forward Bend is a beginner level yoga pose that is performed in sitting position.Easy Pose Forward Bend additionally involves forward-bend, Stretch.Need Easy Pose Forward Bend contraindications? Please to request contraindications of Easy Pose Forward Bend and we will notify you as soon as your request has been completed.
Easy Pose Forward Bend Variations
Why Do We Do Forward Bends In Yoga
- in Teaching tips··yoga for your body
- — 11 Mar, 2015
I heard an interesting theory that older women who have osteoporosis in their spine, shouldn’t practice forward bends because of the risk for additional fractures. This theory is a result of a of three patients who experienced new pain and fractures after doing “yoga flexion exercises”. I find it curious since our everyday lives are full of flexion. Try putting on pants or socks without flexing your spine. Should the women avoid those activities as well?
After careful reading it becomes clear that when the study talks about “strenuous yoga flexion exercises”, it doesn’t mean just forward bends. It specifically lists poses like Paschimottanasana , but also Bridge pose and Shoulderstand, both of which put the cervical spine in the extreme flexed position. So the study isn’t really talking about forward bends, but more about extreme spinal flexion. Why would we ever recommend that to somebody with osteoporosis in the spine?! In addition, another study shows that the negative effects of “strenuous yoga flexion exercises” are neutralized by doing extension poses. Isn’t that how we usually structure our yoga practices?
To bend forward means to flex the spine, which happens every time you move your chest toward your thighs . If we arrange forward bends according to intensity, it would look like this:
Let’s take a look at different types of forward bends and what we can expect to get out of them.
Supplementary Practices And Ongoing Work
Stretch the external hip rotators in postures such as Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana or Supine Janu Sirsasana
Lengthen the hamstrings in a pure hip flexion such as Supta Padangustasana . Modify by bending the passive leg, foot on the floor if very tight.
Asana Pranayama mudra Bandha-Swami Satyananda Saraswati, 2002 Yoga Publications Trust
Anatomy and Asana: Preventing Yoga Injuries-Susi Hately Aldous, 2006 Eastland Press
Anatomy of Hatha Yoga-H. David Coulter, 2001 body and Breath Inc.
The Key Muscles of Yoga-Ray Long MD, FRCSC, 2006 Bandha Yoga
Principles of Anatomy and Physiology Seventh Edition-Tortora and Grabowski, 1993 Harper Collins
Bio; Flo’s focus is on finding our natural ease within the postures, and on cultivating an ever deepening awareness of the relationship between the body, the breath, and our state of mind. She specialises in ‘paring back’ each pose and starting always from a foundation point of full awareness of the essential foundation of each posture. Flo runs classes, workshops, retreats and teacher trainings. www.intouchyogabyronbay.com
Good For Skin Health And Height:
Uttanasana regulates the blood circulation which is good for skin health. Poor blood circulation can cause many problems even poor skin health and early aging symptoms.
Children who are looking for enhancing their length or height must perform Uttanasana regularly. Your body needs such stretches so improve height.
How To Do Standing Forward Fold In Yoga
Standing Forward Fold — Uttanasana — calms the mind while stretching and rejuvenating the whole body. This pose is an essential element of Sun Salutations and helps to prepare the body for deeper forward bends.
It is commonly referred to as “Standing Forward Fold” or “Forward Bend.” However, the literal translation of its Sanskrit name is “intense stretch pose.” This comes from three Sanskrit words:
- “Ut” — meaning “intense”
- “Tan” — meaning “to stretch”
- “Asana” — meaning “pose”
When practiced correctly, this pose is an intense stretch, particularly for the hamstrings and back. However, it should also be relaxing and comfortable — be careful not to push too hard, seeking an “intense” experience! The more you relax in this pose, the deeper your stretch will be.
Relieve Stress And Insomnia
Forward bends have a calming effect and invigorate the nervous system. Half-tortoise pose is an excellent posture to alleviate insomnia or anxiety. Rabbit pose stretches and soothes the spine. If you need a quick fix, a simple standing forward fold will loosen and relax your body to release stress, fatigue or anxiousness.
What’s your favourite forward fold? Share in the comments?
How To Do Backward Bend Yoga Asanas
Well, there are many Backward bend yoga asanas. Below, you will find a gallery of Backward bend yoga poses. Click the images to get instructions for a particular asana.
When you perform Backward bend yoga asanas, become aware of your bending process. Try to arch the spine and the neck region.
During your daily practice, you should follow up your Backwards bends with counter forward bend yoga poses. For every Backward bend pose there are one or many forward bend poses. Do them together for a smooth yoga routine.
Standing Forward Fold With A Twist
As Stevens’ favorite folding pose, the added twist to the standing forward fold gives more of a stretch to your shoulders and works to wring out your spine. From standing with your feet hip-width distance apart, fold your torso down over your legs. Place one hand on the ground in the center, slightly in front of your feet. Take a small bend in the same knee and extend your opposite arm into the sky. Twist your torso sideways, trying to stack your shoulder blades, and gaze at your raised hand. Switch sides.
The 3 Main Benefits Of Forward Folds: Forward Into The Past
Forward folds are one of the most important and wholesome group of asanas. They are a sort of all-rounders in terms of the benefits they offer; from physical to physiological to psychological.
1. Physical
Physically, the most visible benefit of forward folds is the comprehensive opening up of the entire backside of the body. For example, Pashimottanasana stretches the heels, calves, hamstrings, hips, lower back, upper back, and shoulders! Forward folds are a go-to pose if you want to release tension in your neck, upper or lower back.
2. Physiological
Physiologically, they massage abdominal organs like the kidneys, intestines and pancreas thereby improving digestion and kicking up metabolism. They also increase blood flow to the pelvic region making them an excellent pose for menstrual pains, post-partum healing and menopause. Increased circulation to the uterus can also help with infertility, impotence, and sex drive.
3. Psychological
How To Do Seated Forward Bend In Yoga
Seated forward bend is a seated posture practiced often in yoga-asana classes. Like many seated poses, it provides a grounding and nurturing energy. The forward bend component eases tension in your lower back and calms your mind.
? Before I go further, if you want to review my five key points about asanas, .
Yoga postures, also called poses and asanas, are the physical positions you practice. Asanas create flexibility, build strength, and develop stamina.
Prefer videos? Watch How to Do a Seated Forward Bend:
Standing Forward Bend Flow Steps
Top 7 Health Benefits Of Paschimottanasana
Paschimottanasana happens to be aSanskrit word which is also referred to as the ‘Seated Forward Bend Pose’ inEnglish. This classical Hatha Yoga pose showers a practitioner with loads ofbenefits and is one of the most effective poses for an entire body stretch.
Good for people suffering fromhigh blood pressure and diabetes, Paschimottanasana should be practiced earlyin the morning for best results. It is important to make sure that the bowelsare empty before practicing the pose and meals are taken well in advance.
People suffering from diarrhea,asthma and back injury should refrain from practicing this pose.
The Importance Of Forward Bends
There are many, many poses within the yoga practice that incorporate some aspect of forward folding. Forward bends tend to be more restorative, cooling postures that often move the head below the heart also creating the effects of an inversion. Introspective and soothing, these gentle bends work to lengthen the entire back body, stretching the neck, the upper, middle and lower back, glutes, hips, hamstrings and calves. Literally lengthening from head to toe, these postures create space and awareness throughout.
Standing Forward Bend Flow Titles In English And Sanskrit
Many yoga poses have multiple titles because of differences in their Sanskrit to English title translationor a specific title becoming popular because of it’s common usage amongst yoga teachers and yoga practitioners. Below are common titles of Standing Forward Bend Flow:
- Standing Forward Bend Flow
- Uttansana Flow
Tight Hip External Rotators
Tightness in the muscles that join the femur to the pelvis will greatly restrict the rotational movement. The external rotator muscles of the hips all connect the head of the femur to various points on the pelvis, and are arranged like fans. One of them, the piriformis muscle, connects to the sacrum, which is of course connected to and articulates with the spine.
If these muscles are tight, two major things will happen to limit the forward bend;
