Week 25 : Chair Pose
Today’s posture is a great standing pose, to develop strength. Utkata means powerful or fierce in Sanskrit and the way this pose works will surely make you that! It activates all the muscles of your core : The back, the abdominal muscles and the thighs. Practice this one regularly to bring more Shakthi to your yoga.
Stand in Tadasana with the palms together at the heart.
Inhale and then exhale and bend the knees. You are trying to bring the thighs as close to parallel to the floor as they will go – imagining that you are sitting back onto a chair.
The knees will move forward over the feet and you will need to lean the torso forward slightly to keep your balance. Be sure the spine is in a straight line as you lean forwards.
Keep the knees and the thighs as parallel to one another as you can.
To extend the posture you can bring the arms up on either side of the head. Keep the arms straight and try to keep the shoulder blades moving down the back – avoiding the tops of the shoulders squeezing up to the ears. The neck is long.
How not to do it.
To come out, fold forward from the hips and then straighten the legs.
Take a moment here in standing forward bend, to release the muscles of the back and then bend the knees and slowly roll up to Tadasana.
And while I’m here I’d like to wish you all a blessed holiday season filled with abundance in every form.
Love and Light,
Serena
Posture Chair Pose
Sanskrit name : Uttkatasana
Benefits
*Strengthens ankles, calves and thighs.
*Stimulates abdominal organs aiding digestion.
*stimulates the heart to pump more vigourously.
*Strengthens the back.
* Helps flat feet.
Avoid if: You have headache, low blood pressure or insomnia or lower back problems.
Beginners Tip: Keep the hands in prayer position at the heart, to put less pressure on the lower back.
Serena is a yoga teacher and the founder of The OM Space . She is a passionate believer in yoga as a life enhancing practice and runs several classes in Colombo including the very popular Yoga for Children and Yoga for Pregnancy. Serena trained in the UK with the British Wheel of Yoga and is a UK Yoga Alliance registered Senior Teacher.
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