Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend Benefits & Steps

Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend, or Upavistha Konasana, is the perfect transition between standing poses and many seated postures. In Sanskrit, kona is the word for "angle" and upavistha means "seated."

About Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend

Although this pose seems simple, it provides many benefits:

• Calms the mind
• Increases flexibility of the legs, hip joints, and groins
• Stretches the hamstrings

Step into the Pose

To Perform Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend

1. Sit on your buttocks, back straight, legs together in front of you, hands at your sides, palms on the floor. This is sometimes called Staff pose.
2. Flex your feet and extend them on either side of your body as you lower the torso to the floor, forearms ahead of you.
3. Inhale, and on the exhale, rotate your hips forward as you bend into the pose, and widen your legs a little further.
4. Continue to move forward from the hips, forearms on the floor. If you start to bend at the waist, you've gone too far.
5. Keep the kneecaps pointed toward the ceiling, and draw the shoulder blades down from the ears.
6. Hold the pose for a minute or more and on an inhale, come up.

For more instruction on Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend, visit Yoga Journal.

Beginner

Use a small rolled towel under each knee if the back of your legs are tight.

Advanced

While in Staff pose, use your thumb and index finger to grab your big toes. Simultaneously spread your legs out as you lower the torso to the floor, releasing the fingers and sinking into the pose.