Prasarita Padottanasana - Wide Legged Forward Bend Pose

Posted on 2019-01-13

Prasarita Padottanasana is an asana that can increase your flexibility quickly and greatly. Its translations from Sanskrit are Wide-Legged Forward Bend and Legs Spread Intense Stretch Pose. The pose’s name comes from five words: Prasarita means “stretched out,” “expanded,” “spread,” “with outstretched limbs, ”Pada means “foot,” Ut means “intense,” Tan means “to stretch” or “extend,” and Asana means “posture” or “seat”

Step by Step Instructions

Stand in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) as you face one of your sticky mat’s long edges
Set your feet apart
Rest your hands on hips
Draw the internal lower legs up to lift the inner curves.
Press your external feet’s edge and big toes into the floor.
Connect with the thighs by pulling them up
Join palms together towards the back and interlock fingers. Grasp an inverse elbow using your hands if this is too difficult.
Breathe in.
Stretch your body’s front
Breathe out
Extend forward from your hips, holding your back straight and mid-section open, while keeping your hips over your heels
Bring the head toward the floor. If the hands are caught, take the arms some distance toward the ground, while keeping up the shoulder blades’ vibes on your back. Breathe a couple of times here.
Discharge your head down at the complete full curve, then put it on the floor
Breathe between 6 to 12 times while in this position. Ensure that your back is as straight as possible and you don’t have overstretched hamstrings
To release this posture, bring your hands on the ground below the shoulders. Lift and lengthen the front torso. Rest hands on the hip with an inhalation. Pull the tailbone toward the ground and swing your torso up. Hop or walk the feet into Tadasana.

Modifications

If it’s hard to bring your hands to the floor, then you need a lot of support in this pose to protect your lower back. Try the following:

Raise both hands by resting them on the block’s end
Use a folding chair as a support for your forearms if the back is still rounded

Preparatory Poses

The sequencing of Prasarita Padottasana is usually near a standing pose practice’s end. Apart from many standing poses, prepare yourself with the following:

Adho Mukha Svanasana
Supta Baddha Konasana
Uttanasana

Follow Up Poses

Bakasana, Sirasana, Paschimottanasana, Utthita Parsvakonasana

Benefits

Stretches and strengthens the spine and the inner and back legs
Stretches the spine, shoulders, and chest
Opens up the hips
Calms the mind and relaxes the body
Helps relieve mild backache issues
Tones your abdominal organs

Bandhas

It is important to practice the following bandhas in this pose:

Mula bandha
Uddiyana bandha

Drishti

Center your gaze inwards (that is, between the brows) while doing this pose.

Variations

Traditionally, there’re 4 variations of this pose in the Ashtanga Primary series: A, B, C, and D versions.

The technical name for this pose is Prasarita Padottanasana I in the Ashtanga and Iyengar systems. A more challenging variation is Prasarita Padottanasana II.

In Bikram yoga you grab the heals from the outside.

Beginner Tips

As a beginner, you might find it difficult to touch the crown of your head to the ground in this forward bend’s last stage. To remedy this, support your head on a bolster, thickly folded blanket, or padded block.