Intense Side Stretch Pose

• Brain
• Hamstrings
• Shoulders
• Wrists
• Spine

• Calms the brain
• Stretches the spine, shoulders and wrists (in the full pose), hips, and hamstrings
• Strengthens the legs
• Stimulates the abdominal organs
• Improves posture and sense of balance
• Improves digestion

If you have a back injury or high blood pressure, avoid the full forward bend; instead do Ardha Parsvottanasana (pronounced are-dah = half). Perform steps 1 and 2 as described above, a couple of feet from and facing a wall. With an exhalation lower your torso parallel to the floor and reach your hands out to the wall. Press your palms actively into the wall (preferably with your elbows fully extended), keeping your front torso longer than your back.

There’s a middle position for the hands and arms, between having the hands on the floor and pressing them together behind the back. Simply cross the arms behind the back, parallel to the waist. Hold each elbow with the opposite hand. When the right leg is in front, bring the right arm around behind the back first; when the left leg is in front, bring the left arm first.

As mentioned above, the full version of this pose is performed with the hands behind the back in Anjali Mudra, a hand position sometimes called Pristanjali Mudra (prish-TOHN-jolly; prishta = “the back, the rear of anything”), or sometimes Paschima Namaskar (posh-EE-mah nam-AHS-car; pashima = “west”; namaskar = “to greet or salute”).

Stand in Tadasana with the hands in Anjali Mudra in front of the heart. Bend your knees slightly and round your back, hunching your shoulders. Exhale, inwardly rotate your arms and sweep them around behind your back. Press the palms together with the thumbs resting on your sacrum, so the fingers point toward the floor. First turn the wrists so the fingers point toward the sacrum, then continue turning until the fingers point toward your head. Your pinkies will now press against your back torso. Slide your hands up your back, lifting and opening your chest as you do. If you can, position the hands between the scapulas, with the pinkies pressing firmly against the spine. Keep the palms spreading together as much as possible. Roll the front shoulders up and back, and lengthen down from the back armpits through the elbows toward the floor. Now follow the instructions for the pose.

If you find your back heel lifting as you bend into this pose, practice with your back heel pressed to a wall. The heel’s contact with the wall will help you keep it grounded. Another way to work with a lifting heel is to raise it on a sandbag.

A partner can help you anchor the heads of the thighs, which in turn will help you ground the heels and lengthen the spine. Take the feet apart and turn the torso. Have your partner stand behind you and loop a strap over your groins, just in the creases where the thighs join the pelvis. Then bend forward into the pose. Your partner should pull firmly on the strap, dragging the groins deeper into the pelvis. From this action, press actively into the back heel and lengthen the spine over the front thigh.

• Adho Mukha Svanasana
• Anjali Mudra
• Baddha Konasana
• Gomukhasana (especially the arm position)
• Prasarita Padottanasana
• Supta Baddha Konasana
• Uttanasana
• Utthita Parsvakonasana
• Utthita Trikonasana
• Vrksasana

Parsvottanasana is a good standing pose preparation for seated forward bends and twists. Other follow-ups include:

• Dandasana
• Pincha Mayurasana
• Prasarita Padottanasana
• Salabhasana
• Salamba Sarvangasana
• Salamba Sirsasana
• Utkatasana
• Virabhadrasana I

There are really two ways to position the torso over the front thigh in this pose. Beginners should align the midline of the torso over the inner side of the front thigh. Advanced students should rotate the torso and bring its midline down over the midline of the front thigh.