Forward bend (as practiced in Anahata Yoga).

Variation of forward bend.

Uttanasana (forward bend) is a hatha yoga posture, one of the most 'popular', utilized in most hatha yoga classes. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (338x640, 24 KB)yoga posture forward bend Licensing This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (338x640, 24 KB)yoga posture forward bend Licensing This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of... Instructors adjust postures at an Anahata Yoga class Anahata Yoga is a meditative hatha yoga developed by Ana Costa. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (325x640, 20 KB) Summary yoga posture forward bend variation Licensing This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (325x640, 20 KB) Summary yoga posture forward bend variation Licensing This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version... Hatha Yoga posture performed at a Hindu temple. ...

The posture consists of standing with feet together, then hinging forward from the hips, letting the head hang, with palms placed flat on the floor near the feet.

Practitioners suggest that this posture provides these benefits:

• Provides a complete stretch to the entire back side of the body.
• Rejuvenates the spinal nerves.
• Removes depression, makes the mind peaceful and calm.
• Tones the kidneys, liver, and spleen.
• Increases flexibility of the spine, hips, sciatic nerves, tendons, and ligaments of the legs.
• Improves blood circulation in the legs.
• Calms and rejuvenates the nervous system as it soothes the brain cells.
• Releases anxiety.
• Provides nourishment to the facial skin, scalp, and hair roots.
• Improves eyesight and hearing.
• Stretches the hamstrings.

Because of its great popularity, this posture has a very large number of variations and associated techniques.

Risks

Whenever possible, this pose should be replaced with the seated version, preferably the one-legged version. Hinge from the hips; try to keep the back straight from hips to the head instead of rounding over. The standing version puts weight on the lumbar ligament and can lead to a weakening of the ligament. It also can cause the degeneration of the lumbosacral joint. For numerous reasons, the standing version pose has widely been criticized by those in kinesiology, physical therapy, and other professions.

To learn more about the recommendations against this pose, please visit:

 http://www.betterhealthchannel.com.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Exercises_that_could_be_harmful?OpenDocument 

http://starbulletin.com/96/07/03/sports/bodytalk.html http://www.drbookspan.com/BadExercisesArticle.html http://www.soccerdivas.com/stretching.htm

And while reputable organizations such as ACSM require knowledge of the risk of these exercises for certification, it is difficult to find a positional statement from these organizations.

In any yoga class, it is always appropriate to modify a pose to a safer version. In this posture, taking the weight off the back by placing the hands on the thighs, calves or floor is helpful. Attempt to keep the spine straight from the hip bones to the head, only going as far forward as you can without bending at the spine.

See also

• List of Hatha yoga postures