Wide-Legged Forward-Fold with a Twist
Step your feet more than hip-width apart. Your feet are parallel to each other. Place your hands on your hips. Take a deep inhalation and stretch the spine. With your exhalation, gracefully fold up and over the legs. Relax here for a few breaths. Place your right hand on the floor directly under your head. Float your left arm to the sky. Take a few deep breaths. Once you’re ready, repeat the twist on the other side.
“Prasciritci Padottancisanci is one of the quieter standing poses. This pose stretches the hamstrings, but more gently than poses in which the legs are closer together… You can include this pose at the end of your standing pose practice, as a rest between vigorous standing poses, as a preparation for a long practice of seated forward bends, or before or after Down Dog. In addition, it can be practiced before you begin inverted poses. ” – Judith Lasater, 30 Essential Yoga Poses © 2003 p. 6145
Stand up nice and tall in a mountain position Start rooting deeply into the ground through your right foot. Set your gaze at a still point for balance. When you’re ready, move the left foot to the ankle, under or above the knee. Once you find balance, start stretching your arms up and overhead. Breathe deeply and hold the pose for a few breaths. Repeat the position two more times on this side, then go over to the left side. If you fall out of the pose, just laugh and smile.
“The tree is a legend in all cultures. It reaches to universal heights in mythology – becoming the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge, the Cosmic Tree. And it reaches right into the roots of our individual consciousness to our very personal histories with trees… When you do Tree Pose, allow a favorite tree to arise in your mind or see which tree memories want to speak. Find out what the tree wants to tell you – about your life, about your knowledge, about your relationship to the cosmos. ” – Swami Lalitananda, The Inner Life of Asanas © 2007, p. 10146
Stand up tall in a mountain position Bring your hands into a prayer position in front of your chest. Start rooting deeply into the ground through your right foot. Set your gaze at a still point for balance. When you’re ready, start stretching your left leg toward the back wall. You can also stay supported on your left big toe without lifting the foot away. Once you find balance, start stretching your arms out to the side. Breathe deeply and hold the pose for a few breaths. Repeat the pose on the other side. If you fall out of the pose, just laugh and smile. Repeat the pose on the other side.
“They are traditionally known as 1, 2, and 3, not because of sequence, but because there are that many limbs extended. How does the joining or releasing of the hands affect your breathing? Your sense of strength? What thoughts or feelings arise in you as you hold each pose? ” – Zo Newell, Downward Dogs, and Warriors © 2007, p. 1847
Begin in a mountain position Set your gaze on a still point to quiet the mind. Extend your left arm toward the ceiling and your right arm to the right. Ground into your left leg and start stretching the right leg toward the back wall. You may choose to stay balanced on your right big toe, or you may bend your right knee; beyond reach to your right ankle. Press the top of your foot into your hand and lift the sole of your foot back and up. As your torso tips forward, keep your thighs parallel to each other. Hold the position for a few breaths. Use grace and ease as you try the pose on the other side.
How to Do Wide Legged Standing Forward Fold With a Twist Photo Gallery
Start in a standing pose on the back edge of the mat. Sweep the arms up and overhead, gently reaching toward the back wall. With your exhalation, fold comfortably up and over the legs. You may keep your knees deeply bent to avoid pulling the hamstrings. Inhale deeply and lift your gaze. With your exhalation, walk your hands out to the front edge of your mat. Lower the knees to the ground, arriving at an all-fours position. From the all-fours position lower all the way to your belly area. Stretch your arms out to the side like a letter “T.” With your breath in, press into your right hand and move your right leg up and over the left leg. You’ll be twisting your lower back area. Reach with your right foot as far as you can. After a few breaths, come back to the center and rest. Now, press into your left hand and gently move the left leg up and over the right leg. Stay here for a few breaths. Release the position and come back lying on the belly. Place your forearms on the ground by keeping the elbows under your shoulders and your forearms parallel to each other. Open up through the heart in Sphinx position while rolling the shoulders down and away from each other. Next, press into your hands and push your hips back into your heels. Keep the arms extended straight out in front of you. With your next inhalation, start to walk your hands to the knees, tuck the toes under, and lift the knees away, arriving into a standing forward fold. From standing forward fold, gently start rolling up, vertebra by vertebra, until you arrive at your starting position, mountain pose. Rest. Repeat the flow once or twice.
Start in a mountain position at the back of your mat. Breathe in, extend the arms up and overhead. Breathe out and sit in an “imaginary chair, which is not there.” Fold up and over the legs. Walk your hands out to the front edge of your mat. Lower the knees, the hips, and the chest to the ground. Press into your hands and lift yourself up into an upward-facing dog. From upward-facing dog, either stretch back, hips to heels or lift your knees and hips to a downward-facing dog. Slowly start walking the hands back to your knees all the way to a forward fold. Rise to a standing position. Take a giant step with your right leg forward. Square the hips to the front. Raise your arms and towards bend the front knee at the same time. Hold warrior I for three deep breaths. Once you have completed the breaths, step your left foot to meet the right. Come to mountain position to the front edge of your mat. Now step your right foot all the way to the back of your mat. Inhale the arms up and overhead while bending the knee in softly. Take three deep breaths in a warrior I position. Step your right leg back to the front to meet the left leg. Arrive into your Tadasana. Notice how you feel and repeat the flow once or twice.
Start in an all-fours position on your mat. Your hands will be right under your shoulders, and your knees will be right under your hips. Press firmly into your hands and push the hips to the heels. Keep your arms stretched out in front of you. Take a few breaths and ease back into an all-fours position. Repeat two more times by going deeper into the stretch. Make sure you’re not breathing only into the front of the body but into the back as well.
