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Raised Hands Pose
Also Known as Urdhva Hastasana
About the pose
This is a standing type of asana. It is easy to perform asana.
Benefits of Raised Hands Pose or Urdhva Hastasana
* It helps you improve your posture.
* It assists you in opening your shoulders.
* It helps you strengthen your thigh.
How to do Raised Hands Pose or Urdhva Hastasana?
Step 1: Stand erect on the floor with your feet joined together at the heels. Spread the fingers of both your feet outwards. Look straight in front.
Step 2: Slowly but steadily raise both your hands up from the sides, to a position over and above your head.
Step 3: Join the palm of your hands when you have stabilized them over your head.
Step 4: While keeping your palms joined together, attempt to extend your arms to the fullest, with the fingers pointing towards the top. Simultaneously shift your gaze towards your hands as well.
Step 5: Relax and allow your shoulder blades to fall down towards the back, treating a full extension beginning from your hands to your back.
Step 6: Maintain your balance and hold this position for as long as possible for you.
More about Raised Hands Pose or Urdhva Hastasana
A word of caution!
The pose is not to be performed if a yoga practitioner is suffering from any of the following conditions:
* Slipped disc
* Sciatica
Use of Props for Beginners:
A perfectly straight alignment is the key to success of this pose. Beginners would not be able to attain this alignment right at the start. Hence, they can make use of a wall as a prop. Standing with their back towards the wall, they can perform the pose quite easily.
Variations for Advanced Practitioners:
When you become adept in maintain your balance throughout the pose, you can attempt the following variations in order to increase the intensity:
Using an Arm belt: You can use a belt as a prop in this asana and provide support to the stretch of your arms. This would help increase the strength of your arms. Loop it to about the length of your shoulders (or less) and loop it around the arms when they are at shoulder height. Relax your shoulders and without losing the tension in the stretched loop, take your arms over your head.
Interlocking of thumbs: The thumbs can be pulled away from the chest and out against each other. This would increase the stretch in the arms. Later, as you raise your arms up, the thumbs can be pulled up off the chest.
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