Padahastasana – hand to foot posture

This is a forward bend from standing, which means that you take your hands and place them under the soles of your feet. This takes time to achieve and becomes possible as the suppleness in your legs and spine increase. A challenge for most people!

 

Benefits

• Improves flexibility in the hamstrings
• Improves flexibility in the spine
• Acts like an inverted posture with the benefits of reversing the effects of gravity
• Takes time to develop the full version of the posture, so be patient!

 

How to do it

 

Begin from a standing position with your feet parallel and hips’ width apart:

• As you breathe in, raise your arms up and overhead
• As you breathe out, hinge forward from your hips, keeping your arms out in front of you
• Keeping your hips back, continue to bend forward until you can drop your hands onto your legs – don’t worry if you can’t touch your toes
• As you breathe in, raise your head, raise your tail and hollow your back – be careful not to overstretch
• As you breathe out, continue your forward bend
• If you can comfortably reach your feet with your hands, lift your toes and ease the palm of each hand under each foot
• Continue to work with your breath and to allow any tension to soften in the legs and back
• To return, release your hands, take your weight through your legs and buttock muscles and gently uncurl your spine to an upright standing position, raising your head last of all
• Stand quietly and allow your breath to settle

 

Things to watch

• Avoid this inverted posture if you have unmanaged high blood pressure or eye/ear problems
• Use each breath out to help you relax into your back and legs
• Avoid locking the knees or pushing them back
• Retain the tilt in the pelvis, especially in the early stages, to help you reach further down
• Proceed carefully – don’t force progress – just relax

 

Here is a link for more info about the posture:

http://www.a2zyoga.com/yoga-poses/padahastasana.php

Izzy Ixer

British Wheel of Yoga Dip Yoga Tutor and Coach

You can find out more about Izzy here and about yoga at the Centre here

Twitter @IzzyIxer or @IzzyYoga