How To Do: Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)

Seated Forward Fold is a foundational beginner yoga pose that is accessible to all levels with modifications. It will stretch your entire back, hips, and the muscles at the back of your legs.

Unlike Standing Forward Fold, Seated Forward Fold puts less pressure on your back caused by the forward flexion cause by the pose. This allows for a deeper stretch in the hamstrings and your back without the additional pressure.

Seated Forward Fold is an excellent pose to counter the effects that sitting all day has on your hips and hamstring muscles.

Many fitness activities like running and weight training also sacrifices the flexibility of your legs, back and hips to gain strength. Tight hamstrings can make simplest movement uncomfortable to do. Seated Forward Fold will help counter this and keep those muscles long improving your mobility. Regularly practicing this pose will keep your spine elastic, joints mobile, internal organs healthy and your mind invigorated.

The pose is common in most yoga styles and is always practiced later in a sequence when the back and leg muscles are warm.

This pose also gives you a good opportunity to practice your yoga breathing (Pranayama) or abdominal lock (Uddiyana Bandha).

The goal of Seated Forward Fold is not to touch your toes but to create length through the entire back of the body.

1. Start in Staff Pose (Dandasana) with your legs straight in front of your body. Sit up straight with your palms on the floor next to your hips and your feet flexed with your heels pressing away from your body.
2. Inhale and lengthen your spine. Both arms reaching overhead and stretching up.
3. On the exhale, engage your core and lean forward, hinging at the hips. Lengthen the spine to fold forwards without rounding your back. Maintain a straight spine as you fold forward over your thighs.
4. With your hands on your legs inch them forward as far as they can go. You can hold the outer edges of your feet if you can reach them.
5. Lengthen your torso with each inhalation and fold deeper forward on each exhalation. If you are holding your feet, bend your elbows out to the sides away from the floor.
6. Do not round your back. Focus on bringing your abdominals to your thighs instead of your nose to your legs. Your belly should touch your thighs first, then your chest and only then should your nose touch your legs. This will help keep your spine long.
7. Your back may naturally round when you enter the full expression of the pose.
8. Keep your shoulders broad and your neck relaxed as a neutral extension of your spine.
9. If your feet are out of reach you can use a yoga strap around your feet. Remember to keep your feet and toes flexed throughout the pose.
10. Stay in the pose for 60 seconds or longer.
11. To exit the pose, inhale and slowly roll your spine back into Staff Pose.

Modifications for Beginners: Seated Forward Fold (Pascimottanasana)

• If you have tight hamstrings and can’t reach your feet with your hands you can use a yoga strap. Just place the strap around your feet and hold it with both hands.
• Another prop to use for tight hamstrings that you can use in conjunction with your strap is a folded blanked. Place the folded blanket under your sit bones to make the pose more accessible.
• If you can’t keep your back and legs straight while sitting in Staff Pose, place a folded blanket under your sit bones. This will ensure you start the pose with correct alignment. Your Staff Pose will set the tone for your forward fold, so make sure you start with correct form. Lifting your hips higher will also protect your lower back from injury.
• Alternatively, you can just bend your knees slightly with a rolled blanket under them. But rather use the strap and blanket under the sit bones, that way the pose alignment will still be correct.
• If your lower back is very tight you can open your legs hip-width apart.
• An alternative to holding your feet is to use your fingers in a yogi grip around your big toes. To do it, use your middle and index fingers to grip your big toes like a claw.

Variations of Seated Forward Fold (Pascimottanasana):

•     Beginner Variation – Legs up the wall (Viparita Karani).

Give this variation a try if your hamstrings are very tight. This way you can passively start to open the hip joints and stretch your hamstrings. Simply lay on your back with your legs up the wall and your butt as close to the wall as possible. Place a folded blanket under your hips for extra support.

•     Advanced Variation – Yoga blocks.

Place one or two yoga blocks behind your feet. Hold onto the blocks instead of your feet. This will allow you to fold much deeper.

Tips for Beginners: Seated Forward Fold (Pascimottanasana)

• Focus on keeping the front of the torso long and bringing your belly to your thighs instead of trying to get your nose to touch your legs.
• Take it slow when practicing the pose. Injuries from overstretching is very painful and uncomfortable and takes a long time to heal.
• Make sure you are bending at the hips and not at your waist.
• If you need more space for your stomach or chest, you can spread your legs slightly. But not wider than your hips.

Beginner Mistakes: Seated Forward Fold (Pascimottanasana)

• Do not pull your head and shoulders down and round your back, this can lead to a back injury. Rather focus on maintaining a flat back throughout the pose.
• Do not allow you knees or legs to turn out, keep your knees aligned.
• Avoid pulling yourself forward with your hands. Reach as far as is comfortable and then hold with your hands, don’t pull yourself forward.

Caution When Practicing Seated Forward Fold (Pascimottanasana):

• Avoid the pose if you have a recent injury to your arms, hips, ankles, or shoulders.
• Do not force the stretch in the pose, stop if you feel any sharp pain.
• Move slowly in the pose if you suffer from sciatica.
• Avoid the pose if you have herniated disks of spinal issues.
• Seated Forward Fold might aggravate symptoms of abdominal issues by putting extra pressure on the abdomen. Practice with caution.
• If you suffer from hypertension, you can keep your head elevated and above your heart.
• Slightly bend your knee if you feel a stretch behind the joint. You should feel the stretch in your hamstrings and calves but not in the knee joint.
• Always practice within your own range of limits and abilities.

Benefits of Seated Forward Fold (Pascimottanasana):

• Practicing Seated Forward Fold will increase the flexibility in your hips, hamstrings, and lower back.
• With the help of the active breathing during this pose, it may relieve daily anxiety and stress. It can also lessen mild depression if practiced regularly.
• It relieves headaches by increasing blood flow to the head during the pose and improves digestion by stimulating the abdominal organs.
• It stimulates your internal organs like the gallbladder, liver, spleen, and pancreas.
• It assists in regulation of your blood sugar levels by helping to regulate the pancreas function.

How To Align Your Pelvis for Seated Forward Fold (Pascimottanasana):

The alignment of your pelvis needs to be correct for Seated Forward Fold pose to be effective.

Your hamstrings and inner thigh muscles are attached to the underside of your pelvis. And your spinal muscles and some other back muscles are attached to the upper side of your pelvis.

So, in the pose you have your hamstrings pulling your sit bones under towards your knees, tucking the pelvis and forcing your lower back to round.

By straightening your back, you are lengthening the spinal muscles. This action pulls the upper-back side of the pelvis forward forcing the sit bones to lift and your hamstrings to lengthen.

In forward fold poses your lower back naturally wants to round to compensate for tight hamstrings. Your hamstrings will never lengthen with your pelvis tucked no matter how far you can reach.

Remember, the goal is to lengthen the hamstring muscles not to fold deeper in the pose.