Vinyasa Yoga: Wide-Leg Standing Bend

Video Transcript

"So in wide leg standing forward bend, once again we go forward, but unlike the Baddha Konasana where the feet are together, with the legs apart it's a totally different scene. The sitting bones are free to widen the base of the pose. It can widen as much as it's able to do so. There are really no limits on it. And the feeling you get when you're doing that widening of the sitting bone is; which is the base of the pelvis opening up, is that your legs are growing by inches, and in fact, you can even see them slide; not wider apart, but just become longer. That's a very powerful feeling of elongation. And also, when I'm starting in this pose, I start with my legs a lot closer together than I could actually do, you know, couldn't take them almost all the way out to the side, but I bring them in to be nice and soft, and later on, if I want to try to scoot them further apart I can. But starting from a very soft place, and I rock side to side and massage those tendons that are up around the base of the pelvis. I'm telling the pelvis to soften. One of the few poses where you can really let go of the pelvic root, and in fact, stretch the muscles that are in between the sitting bones, the pelvic diaphragm. So we might think of this, instead of a inner thigh stretch, as an entire pelvic opener stretch that goes way, way deep around the tailbone and up into the internal walls of the abdomen, all the way around the sides of the hips. You see how I'm sneaking my feet wider, farther, longer, and the legs can come forward."