How To Do a Forward Bend in Yoga

Stand with the legs hip-width apart. Bending the knees, cross your arms and catch your hands at the elbows, placing the elbows just above the knees. The weight of your upper body is resting on the legs, and the weight of your lower body is pressing back towards your heels. You do not want to feel any pull or stretch in the hamstrings; instead, press the weight back towards your hips to feel more weight on the glutes. Be sure the feet are parallel to each other, big toes closer together than heels with feet active, meaning you are creating an arch in your foot by pressing the balls of the feet and heels into the ground and lifting the toes.

With the arms resting above the knees and your hips pressed back, weight shifted toward your heels, using the pull of your arms, drag your lower rib cage toward your knees until you feel some space between your lower rib cage and your hips. Lift the chest and lengthen the lower abdomen by reaching the chest forward, away from the hips. This lengthening movement is also lengthening your lumbar spine. The quadriceps muscles in the front of the legs will be very active as well as gluteals and hips.

If you have run out of room for the arms go ahead and let the arms, head and neck hang towards the floor. The ribcage is resting on the upper thighs, head and neck are very relaxed, head is floating away from shoulders and upper back. If you feel tension in the neck, engage the shoulders by moving them back away from the neck so the neck and head can let go. The more the neck and head relax, the easier it is for your lower back to relax.

You can also place the elbows directly in front of the knee caps with hands clasped like a downhill skier. Using your elbows, drag the lower rib cage towards the knees, letting your head rest in your hands. Breathe into your lower ribcage and lower back. Let the head float away from tailbone, breathe into this space.

If you feel any pull on the hamstrings, bend the knees a little more as if you were sitting on a chair and shift the weight towards the backside of the body, pressing feet strongly into the ground. You can also lift the chest and place your arms above your knees as you did in the beginning. If the hamstrings or back of the legs are still being overstretched, try placing your hips, backside of the body against a wall to take more of the weight off the back of the legs.

To come out of the forward bend, on an inhale, bend the knees as if about to sit on a chair, reach the arms out wide and broaden your chest and shoulders. Continuing to inhale, bring the upper body up as you gradually straighten the legs, keeping the weight towards the heels, hips and gluteals. Avoid rolling up as this will only pull on the hamstrings, which in turn pulls on your lower back.

Once you have come to standing, press the weight back towards your heels, feet active and with arms overhead, and bring the shoulders forward of the upper body reaching the arms up, shoulders wide apart. The weight of the body is pressed towards your back. Relax the shoulders away from the neck and make the legs very active lengthening through the waist and ribcage. Take another breath, and release the arms.