WIDE LEGGED STANDING FORWARD BEND / PRASARITA PADOTTANASANA
In general, wide-legged forward bends are easier than those in which the
legs are close or next to each other. For this reason, they’re an important
part of any beginning yoga practice. Prasarita means expanded or spread out.
Pada refers to the foot. In this pose the spreading of the feet affords an intense
stretch to the inner thighs. Without the wall, the head works towards the space
between the legs. At the wall the legs are fixed and unable to compensate for
the forward movement of the body’s weight. Thus, moving the head between
the legs is courting a fall. Nonetheless, prasarita at the wall teaches us
how to engage the quads and adductors in order to deepen the stretch in the
hamstrings.
The use of blocks is advised until the muscles let go sufficiently for the
pelvis and torso to fold over the heads of the femur bones with comfort.
Benefits: stretches the adductors (inner thighs), the groins, the hamstrings
and the muscles along the spine; strengthens the ankles and arches; tones the
abdominal organs and the quadriceps; improves digestion and elimination
Preparation for: same pose without the wall; closed-legged forward bends
Contraindications: slippery SI joint
Drishti: tip of nose, floor
Do:
• press heels and sitz bones into wall; hug adductors towards each other
• engage quads and internally rotate inner thighs towards wall
• keep weight evenly distributed on feet--front
to back and side to side
Pointers:
*lower abdomen tones
*shoulder blades on back; elbows bend to sides and hands form teepee; neack
and head are free
*spine straight; pelvis rotates over heads of femur bones and downward pull
of gravity is countered equally by in and upward effort in legs
*sitz bones widen and tailbone lightly tucks
