Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend: Step-by-Step Instructions

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Sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose), then lean your torso back slightly on your hands and lift and open your legs to an angle of about 90 degrees (the legs should form an approximate right angle, with the pubis at the apex). Press your hands against the floor and slide your buttocks forward, widening the legs another 10 to 20 degrees. As with Dandasana, if you can’not sit comfortably on the floor, raise your buttocks on a folded blanket.

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Rotate your thighs outwardly, pinning the outer thighs against the floor, so that the knee caps point straight up toward the ceiling. Reach out through your heels and stretch your soles, pressing though the balls of the feet.

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With your thigh bones pressed heavily into the floor and your knee caps pointing up at the ceiling, walk your hands forward between your legs. Keep your arms long. As with all forward bends, the emphasis is on moving from the hip joints and maintaining the length of the front torso. As soon as you find yourself bending from the waist, stop, re-establish the length from the pubis to the navel, and continue forward if possible.

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Increase the forward bend on each exhalation until you feel a comfortable stretch in the backs of your legs. Stay in the pose 1 minute or longer. Then come up on an inhalation with a long front torso.

Benefits

Stretches the insides and backs of the legs Stimulates the abdominal organs Strengthens the spine Calms the brain Releases groins Contraindications and Cautions Lower-back injury: Sit up high on a folded blanket and keep your torso relatively upright.