Based on the English identify, you would possibly suppose that the chair pose in yoga is as straightforward as sitting down in your favourite recliner. This pose (utkatasana in Sanskrit) mimics the place of sitting in a chair, however for the reason that chair is lacking, you must depend on the energy of your decrease physique to maintain from falling to the bottom.
In truth, the Sanskrit phrase “utkata” has a variety of meanings, together with fierce, highly effective, and awkward. (The precise translation of utkatasana is definitely “powerful pose.”) And when completed appropriately, 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 Instructions
Here’s how one can do utkatasana with correct kind, so you may get all the advantages from it and progress in your yoga apply.
Set up
- Stand in mountain pose (tadasana), so your toes are collectively and your heels are barely separated.
Getting into the pose
- On an inhale, elevate your arms above your head subsequent to your ears in order that your palms are dealing with each other. Then bend your knees to decrease your hips down and again, like you might be sitting in a child-sized chair.
Alignment
- Keep your arms prolonged together with your shoulders press down and biceps by your ears. Keep your chin barely tucked and your chest lifted to take care of a straight line via 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 would raise all 10 toes.
Posture Tips for Chair Pose
- If you might have tight shoulders or lats, extending the arms might be tough. Just attain your arms up so far as is feasible.
- If you look down, you need to have the ability to see your toes in chair pose. If you may’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 to Make Chair Pose Easier
- Start out with a wider stance (about hip width) and don’t bend your knees as a lot.
- If reaching your arms overhead is tough, you may all the time attain straight out in entrance of you, or carry your arms collectively in a prayer place (Anjali Mudra) at your chest.
How to Make Chair Pose Harder
- 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 raise your chest.
- Hold the pose for a number of breaths.
Chair Pose Benefits