Conquer sitting posture (Paschimottanasana) in just 7 steps

Although it is just a basic yoga movement, the sitting posture holds a very important position. Because this exercise not only brings many benefits, it is also the foundation for many advanced yoga poses.

The Seated Forward Bend is known in Sanskrit as Paschimottanasana. This is a classic Hatha yoga move with a lot of benefits for the body. It can work many organs, and helps stretch from the calves, hamstrings (back of the thighs) to the entire spine. Let’s see the sharing below with easyhealthylive.com to understand more about this pose.

Benefits of the sitting position

The forward folded sitting position is very beneficial for opening the hips. At the same time, this movement is also very useful for those who often strain their hamstrings when running. In addition, this pose is also considered a calming movement because it can help reduce stress and improve mood:

• Calms the brain, relieves stress and mild depression
• Stretching the spine, shoulders, hamstrings
• Stimulates the liver, kidneys, ovaries and uterus
• Improve digestion
• Relieves uncomfortable symptoms during menopause and menstruation
• Relieve headache, anxiety, fatigue
• Treats high blood pressure, infertility, insomnia and sinusitis
• Promotes fat burning in the abdominal area
• Increase blood circulation to the pelvis.

Instructions for performing the sitting forward bend

Many ancient documents also show that Paschimottanasana can increase appetite, reduce obesity and cure diseases.

To perform the seated bend, do:

1. Sit in Staff Pose (Dandasana) with legs stretched forward, back straight, toes relaxed
2. Move your hands to the sides and raise them straight up towards the ceiling
3. Inhale and stretch the spine. Exhale, bend forward and bend at the hips
4. With each inhalation, stretch the spine. With each exhale, do a deeper forward bend. Imagine your belly resting on your thighs, this helps you stretch your spine better
5. Keep your neck natural, don’t look up and don’t relax completely
6. Stretch your arms out as far as you can, grabbing your ankles, shins, or anywhere you can reach. You can also use a powered yoga band.
7. Hold the pose for about 5 breaths and then return to the starting position.

Notes when doing

• Keep your knees straight and don’t let them out to relieve hamstring strain and reduce pressure on joints
• Keep your back straight for as long as possible. Because this will help you breathe better
• Avoid squatting if you have an arm, hip, ankle, shoulder injury or are pregnant. In addition, if you have asthma or diarrhea, you should not exercise
• Do not force your body to bend too deeply, do as much as you can. If it hurts to bend a lot, stop and just do what you can
• In the early training sessions, the leg muscles are not flexible which can make it difficult for you to bend much and make your posture look like sitting. However, do not worry too much, practice slowly and you will soon notice the change in your body.
• If you have a back injury, follow the instructions of a professional yoga teacher.

Variation of the front folded sitting position

Use a yoga rope to help you perform the bend

When adjusting this posture to suit beginners, there will be 2 opinions:

• Some say that you should do the forward bend with your back as straight as possible, taking care not to arch your back even if you can’t do a deep bend. Instead, you just need to stretch the spine, breathe evenly.
• Others say that you can arch your back if you’re new to the practice because this will make it easier for you to bend forward and may find it more comfortable.

You can try both of these while doing the squat and see which works for you. Alternatively, you can also try:

• Sit on a cushion if you find it difficult to sit upright on the floor
• If you can’t reach your toes with your hands, wrap a yoga band around your feet and grab the rope with both hands. Or you can bend your knees slightly to make it easier to touch your feet.
• And if you have mastered this pose, you can wrap your arms around your legs or wrap your arms behind your back, this will work well on your shoulders.

Through the above sharing, you must have understood more about the squatting movement, right? This is a very useful basic yoga move and is easy to combine with many other movements for great sequences. If you want to try this pose and many other yoga poses, download easyhealthylive.com right away so you can connect with a professional easyhealthylive.com yoga teacher or join a yoga class at a club.