Featured Pose: Half Widespread Standing Forward Bend

by Baxter and Nina

This office yoga pose is one of the most active, allover poses in the series. The pose can help energize you and awaken your body and mind, while at the same time, it can be done in almost any attire and in a variety of settings. All you need is a chair or some other piece of furniture on which you can rest your fingertips.

This forward bend not only helps stretch your hamstring muscles but also helps stretch and strengthen your inner thigh muscles (adductors), which become stiff and weak from long hours at a desk or in a chair. The position of your legs in this pose takes your legs into their full range of abduction, which is beneficial for your hip joint and can help prepare you for seated poses such as Seated Crossed Legs pose, Cobbler’s pose, and son.

This pose has similar benefits your back and spine as Half Dog pose (see here), opening your shoulders and stretching your arms, back, hips and legs. By creating a slight backbend in your thoracic spine, the pose is an antidote to the rounded back that extended sitting can cause). Because this is a forward fold, this pose can be refreshing for your mind and body because your blood flows down toward your heart and head. As your chest opens in the pose, your inhalations tend to become deeper and longer, improving your breathing.

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

• hip tightness
• inner thigh weakness
• upper back stiffness, tightness or roundness (kyphosis)
• shoulder stiffness
• respiratory problems, inhale tends to be deeper and longer
• mental sluggishness
• fatigue (physical or mental)

Instructions: Start by standing in Mountain pose, about two to three feet away from the chair back. Step your feet about three to three and half feet apart, with your feet parallel to each other.

Now, pivoting from your hips, bend forward and bring your fingertips to the chair back. Align your head evenly between your arms, so your ears are in line with your arm bones. If the chair is too close to you (that is, if you can’t stretch your arms straight), gently push the chair away. (If you can move the chair or other furniture, step back far enough so your arms can straighten.)

Press evenly into your inner and outer feet. And as you lengthen forward from your hips through your arms, root back through your sitting bones toward the wall behind you. To strengthen your legs, create an isometric action by imagining that you are squeezing your legs toward each other (even though they are spread apart). As you stay in the pose, bring some attention to your breath, focusing on creating a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. Stay in the pose from 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

To come out of the pose, bend your knees slightly and pull the chair back toward you (or step toward the non-moveable furniture). On an inhalation, pivot from your hips to bring your torso back to vertical. Then step your feet back into Mountain Pose.

Cautions: If you have low back problems, be as careful with this forward bend as you are with all other forward bends. Keep your knees slightly bent at first to make sure the pose feels okay for your lower back. If you have weak ankles or a history of ankle sprains, to make sure your ankles are okay, start with your feet a bit closer together and gradually work your feet wider checking your ankles as you go. If you have stiff or tight shoulders, you may not be able to reach the chair with your torso parallel to the floor. In this case, use a prop that is higher than a chair, such as a kitchen counter, filing cabinet, or bureau, or add folded blankets to the chair back to create a more appropriate height for your shoulders.