Upavishtakonaasana

                                                               Upavishtakonaasana 
1. Start in Dandasana (stick pose), seated with a straight spine and legs stretched out in front of you.
2. Open your legs to approximately a 90 degree angle. Place your hands on the floor behind you and press your buttocks forward to widen your legs a touch further.
3.Contract your thighs and push out through the balls of your feet.
4.Make sure that your knees are facing upward toward the ceiling at all times throughout the pose.
5. Lengthen your spine, up through the crown of your head. Then with a straight long spine bend forward at the hips, walking your hands forward between your legs.
6. With every exhalation, deepen your stretch microscopically until you feel a comfortable stretch in your inner hamstrings and the backs of your legs.
7. If you can, bring your sternum (breast bone) parallel to the floor but just hovering over it, grab onto your big toes with your index and middle finger, or grab the outsides of your feet with both hands while engaging the abs, thighs and continuing to press out through the balls of your feet.


My personal challenges with Upavistha Konasana:
1. Tightness of the inner hamstrings:
a. Semimembranosus
b. Semitendinosus
2. Tightness of the adductors:
a. Gracilis
b. Adductor longus
These tight inner hamstrings and adductors lead to difficulty in widening the legs in an upright seated position, and further difficulty in folding forward at the hips with widened legs.


Other Challenges you may experience:
1. Tightness in the backs of your legs.
2. Tightness in your lower back.
3. Tightness in your hips.


Tips for Tightness:
1. Place a folded up blanket or bolster below the buttocks.
2. Bend your knees slightly, but keep your toes and knees pointed up towards the ceiling at all times.
3. Follow my 20 minute semi-resorative practice 1-3 times per week.
Upavistha Konasana, pronounced upa-veeshta kon-aasana, (meaning seated angle pose) has the following


benefits:
It opens the hips while stretching out the entire back side of the body - legs, back, arms.
It stretches the insides of the legs.
It stimulates the abdominal organs.
It strengthens the spine.
It releases the groin.
Apparently it calms the brain.


Through this site I will explain how to do a proper Upavistha Konasana. I will describe some challenges you may encounter and how to overcome them, followed by a 15-20 minute routine you can practice between 1-3 times per week to improve your Upavistha Konasana (seated angle forward bend).