Based mostly on the English identify, you would possibly assume that the chair pose in yoga is as simple as sitting down in your favourite recliner. This pose (utkatasana in Sanskrit) mimics the place of sitting in a chair, however because the chair is lacking, you must depend on the energy of your decrease physique to maintain from falling to the bottom.
In reality, the Sanskrit phrase “utkata” has a whole lot of meanings, together with fierce, highly effective, and awkward. (The precise translation of utkatasana is definitely “highly effective pose.”) And when carried out accurately, utkatasana chair pose is all of these issues mixed, particularly if it’s held for a number of breaths.
Chair Pose (Utkatasana): Step-by-Step Directions
Right here’s do utkatasana with correct kind, so you may get the entire advantages from it and progress in your yoga apply.
Arrange
- Stand in mountain pose (tadasana), so your toes are collectively and your heels are barely separated.
Moving into the pose
- On an inhale, elevate your arms above your head subsequent to your ears in order that your palms are going through each other. Then bend your knees to decrease your hips down and again, like you might be sitting in a child-sized chair.
Alignment
- Maintain your arms prolonged together with your shoulders press down and biceps by your ears. Maintain your chin barely tucked and your chest lifted to keep up a straight line by your backbone.
- Bend your knees deeply in order that your thighs are parallel to the mat. Put your weight again into your heels, in order that you can carry all 10 toes.
Posture Suggestions for Chair Pose
- If in case you have tight shoulders or lats, extending the arms may be troublesome. Simply attain your arms up so far as is feasible.
- Should you look down, it is best to be capable to see your toes in chair pose. Should you can’t, rock your weight again into your heels.
- Pull your stomach button into your backbone, which is able to assist take the curve out of your decrease again.
How you can Make Chair Pose Simpler
- Begin out with a wider stance (about hip width) and don’t bend your knees as a lot.
- If reaching your arms overhead is troublesome, you may at all times attain straight out in entrance of you, or deliver your fingers collectively in a prayer place (Anjali Mudra) at your chest.
How you can Make Chair Pose More durable
- Add an higher physique twist for revolved chair pose (parivrtta utkatasana).
- Bend your knees extra, so that you sit deeper into the pose.
- As you attain your arms up alongside your ears, contact your palms collectively and gaze as much as the sky as you carry your chest.
- Maintain the pose for a number of breaths.
Chair Pose Advantages
