Half Standing Forward Bend Elbows On Wall - Ardha Uttanasana

(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

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Video Transcript:

(You’ll the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Half Standing Forward Bend Elbows on Wall

Today’s tip is half forward bend with forearms against the wall. So if Soraya comes in with the hands and forearms against the wall, yup, and with a lot of the same poses, we say have the feet outwards. As you can see here, Sorayas has got the feet a little bit too close together. So now she takes it the feet wider apart towards that outside of the mat. Make sure again that the outside of the feet are parallel with the outside of the mat. And it’s quite easy in this position, in this pose, to have a quick look at the feet and just see that the outside of the feet are parallel to the floor.

Another tendency with this pose is as you’re pressing the forearms into the wall, the elbows tend to want to splay apart. So we press the elbows towards each other, keeping them at shoulder width. This will help the biceps roll up towards the ceiling, and the shoulder blades draw down the back. If you press the ball of the index fingers together and the balls of the little fingers, this helps activate the arms and again, just keeping the naval contained which Sorayas has nicely done here. And you can see the length through the spine. And just keep pressing the feet to the floor and lift through the thighs. Don’t press the knees back. Lift through the thighs. You can see, this is a nice strong pose, and you have stay with your breath.

Another thing is, if you’re really tight on the lower back or in the hamstrings, what you can do is you can bring the elbows further up the wall, which brings the torso up. So let the torso come up a bit, Sorayas, yeah, that’s it. And so you’re still getting alignment. You still have to suck the naval in though. Just bring this into my hand, yup, that’s it. So pressing the feet, and again, work with your body. It doesn’t matter what height you’re at. You can be at this height, or you can even be a little bit higher.