An Easy Guide to Upavistha Konasana, or Wide Angle Seated Forward Bend
Upavistha Konasana, or Wide Angle Seated Forward Bend, is a useful beginners’ pose to stretch, unwind and relax. It’s also a great yoga pose for improving posture, as it strengthens the spine, and reduces stiffness in the lower back and legs.
Upavistha Konasana is a great stretch for the lower back, groins, hips, hamstrings and inner legs, and a good old detox for the kidneys. So it’s a great way to start or end the day.
This yoga pose can also be useful to women as it helps to regulate menstruation and the ovaries.
Watch a clip for this yoga pose
How to do Upavistha Konasana, or Wide Angle Seated Forward Bend, in easy steps
Step 1:
Sit on the floor with legs extended out in front (Dandasana).
Step 2:
Use a blanket, bolster or block for extra lift in the spine if needed.
Step 3:
Exhale and open the legs wide. Reach out through your heels and press though the balls of the feet.
Step 4:
Draw the thigh muscles up. Look up, lift your chest and extend your spine.
Step 5:
Exhale and extend forwards from the pelvis. Keep the length in your spine as you walk your hands forward between your legs.
Step 6:
Reach through the crown of your head towards your feet.
Step 7:
On each exhalation, sink a little deeper.
Step 8:
Stay for thirty seconds to one minute, or longer if comfortable. Inhale, release the hands and slowly come up. Bring the legs together.
Yoga pose category: Seated and twists
Level: 2
Don’t worry if you’re struggling to fully bend forward in this pose - although this is a beginners’ pose, it does require great flexibility. Try placing a cushion, or two yoga blocks, in front of you, so that it supports your torso as you bend forward. With time and dedication, you’ll build up the core strength and flexibility to master this pose without the extra support.
Sanskrit words meaning:
Upavistha - seated
Kona -angle
Asana - pose
Yoga pose health benefits:
Like all yoga poses, Upavistha Konasana has many health benefits. Use it to help with the following health conditions:
Fatigue
Detox
Anxiety
Infertility
Stress
Menstruation
Yoga pose contraindications:
Don’t practice Upavistha Konasana if you have any of the following health conditions:
Lower back injury
Sign up to our newsletter to receive 10% off your first order, events & exclusive subscriber only offers here
Lucy Edge
is a yoga advocate and writer with three yoga books to her name, including the beloved travel memoir Yoga School Dropout. She writes regularly for the national press, has authored over 150 guides to types of yoga and yoga poses, discovered nearly 250 proven health benefits of yoga through her painstaking classification of 300 clinical studies, and collected more than 500 personal testimonials to the real life benefits of yoga. She is also the creator of our yoga shop – YogaClicks.Store – handpicking yoga brands that are beautifully made by yogis committed to environmental and social sustainability.
