This posture strengthens legs, abdomen, arms and shoulders. Improves concentration & balance, encourages grounding, determination and confidence. It tones and strengthens the pelvic region and can be helpful to treat infertility. It also helps in case of fluid retention, cramps and restless legs during pregnancy. It can be used to treat sciatica and flat feet syndrome. Also used to promote healthy and strong bones, preventing or treating osteoporosis.
You will definitely come across this posture in a yoga class, this is a very grounding and strong posture. It looks easy but there are a lot of cues in this posture, and often when new students are still developing body awareness they don’t picture how their bodies are looking in a particular posture. Having a good look in the mirror can help you observe and correct your alignment at the start in case you’re following your classes online (check out our video library for classes!).
Important cues in this posture, the heels of your feet should be in the same line, back foot in 90 degrees and front foot pointing forward. Bring your hips low, we are aiming at a 90 degrees angle on the bent knee, so the front leg will be parallel to the floor. Now one VERY import rule is to keep the bent knee in line with your front foot. I often see people with a bit stiff hips compensating it by letting their knee collapse inwards which is VERY bad for your knee joint. If you can not do this, only then excuse yourself to bring the hips a bit further up until you work more on hip openers.
The back leg is active, core active and arms to shoulder level. Avoid bringing the torso forward, the shoulders should be stacked over the hips and the gaze firm and looking toward the front hand. Below is an example of what NOT to do. The heels are not aligned, the front knee is collapsing inwards, the torso is collapsing forward, back leg and core are relaxed.
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