uttānāsana – part one

This is the standing version of paścimottānāsana. As tāḍāsana flows into uttānāsana, we remain fully grounded with the earth through our feet, up through our legs, and into our core; and, bending our upper bodies forward and down, we simultaneously release and surrender to the earth and gravity. It’s a beautiful metaphorical cycle of giving and receiving energy from mother earth.

Phonetic pronunciation: *ut-tah-nah-suh-nuh (*u as in “put”)[1]

uttāna = intense stretch
āsana = pose

Basic Instructions for entering the pose[2]

• From tāḍāsana
• Open your feet hip-distance apart and parallel to each other
• Stretch the upper body up from the pelvis
• Place the palms of your hands on your buttocks (Inhale)
• Hinging at the hip joints (not from the waist) and maintaining a flat lower back
• Gradually bend the upper body (trunk) toward the lower body (legs) (Exhale)
• Sliding your hands down the back of the legs as you hinge
• When your body has reached its edge (Inhale)
• Bend the knees to help fold the torso down onto the thighs (still keeping the back flat) (Exhale)
• Using the arms to keep the torso as close as possible to the legs
• Slowly straighten the knees, tilting the pelvis forward and raising the sitting bones (Inhale)
• Do not strain the lower back
• Center your weight, pressing down equally on the balls of the feet and the heels
• Hold and Breathe, centering in the stretch
• To deepen the posture, try bending and then straightening the knees, using the temporary release in the hamstrings to extend the downward stretch in the lower back.[3]

What Do I Do Now?[4]

• Relax
• Let gravity do the work
• Scan your body and mentally encourage your cells, nerves, muscles, and skin, everything, to relax and soften
• Release all sense of holding on
• Relax your belly, buttocks, back, shoulders, face
• Allow your neck to soften, your head to dangle, and your arms to be limp
• Especially elongate your core (Breathe)
• Consciously, deliberately surrender and relax in the bent-over position
• With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly
• With each exhalation 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
• Stay here as long as five minutes (see cautions below)
• But do not force yourself to stay longer than feels right
• Come out of the pose when you have had enough

To Come Out of the Pose[5]

• Bend your knees
• And slowly come down into a squatting position
• Be here several breaths
• Then stand erect in tāḍāsana

Cautions[6]

The following people should approach deep forward bending very cautiously and gradually:

• Back injury
• Osteoporosis
• People with high blood pressure (hypertension) should go into this pose gradually and remain in it only if their breathing is not strained.
• People with low blood pressure (hypotension) should come out of this pose very slowly, because they may become dizzy.

Happy Labor Day Week!

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[1] Pronunciation, and translation from Asana Learning Deck, by Mikelle Terson, http://www.yogablossom.com/.
[2] References: Yoga – Mastering the Basics, by Sandra Anderson and Rolf Sovik, Psy.D. (Himalayan Institute Press, 2006), p. 149.; Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class, by Bikram Choudhury (Penguin Putnam, Inc., 2000), pp. 20-21; Yoga – The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness, by Erich Schiffmann (Pocket Books, 1996), pp. 108-109; Uttanasana, www.yogajournal.com/poses/.
[3] If the hamstrings are tight, slightly bending the knees helps release the spine. Yoga Anatomy, by Leslie Kaminoff (The Breathe Trust, 2007), p. 43.
[4] Adapted from Yoga – The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness, by Erich Schiffmann (Pocket Books, 1996), pp. 108-109; and, Uttanasana, www.yogajournal.com/poses/.
[5]Yoga – The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness, by Erich Schiffmann (Pocket Books, 1996), p. 109.
[6] Yoga Anatomy, by Leslie Kaminoff (The Breathe Trust, 2007), p. 43.