Yoga Forward Bend for Upper Body Strength

Video Transcript

"So moving forward, we've come from extended mountain pose, big, big wingspan, lots of energy through the arms all the way through the fingertips. We've come down already into uttanasana. Then our little variation here is we're going to plant the palms on the floor, inhale, flatten the back into a little arch and a little rise, straightening the arms, pressing with the palms ever-so, ever-so-slightly, and then as we exhale we're going to fold deeper into the pose, dropping the crown of the head toward the floor, inhaling and exhaling. One important thing here is that it's absolutely perfectly, 100 % normal and fine to bend the knees if you feel tight. But the thing you really don't want to do is rock back onto your heels. You want to have a little bit of weight in your hands so that when you inhale you get that nice opening through the back of your legs and your heart is lifting, and as you exhale, folding forward, dropping the crown of the head toward the floor. Ahhh, nice and relaxed. And when you're ready we're going to jump back."