Sun Salute A Position #9

Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Hand posture)

This is the same position as Position 1 except that you are moving up from the floor rather than down towards the floor.

In the previous position you had your hands on the floor and your chest and head were lowered down towards your legs.

In this position you:

• inhale
• lift your torso up to a vertical position
• bring the arms up over your head with the palms together and
• gaze up towards your thumbs.

How to do it

Keeping your arms straight swing them out to the side as you lift the torso up towards a vertical position.  Your arms should continue to lift up and the palms should come together as the torso comes to a vertical position.

Lift your gaze up towards the thumbs.

Starting to inhale, firm Uddiyana Bundha and lift your torso away from your legs. Your hands are resting on the floor beside your feet, your fingers are facing forward and the thumbs pointing towards and almost touching your feet.  The shoulders are down the back and the torso is long. Your gaze is down the nose through the legs to the horizon.

From here you begin to move your arms out to the side.  Rotate the palms of your hands towards the front as you slowly lift the arms out to the side and  upwards.  When your torso and arms are about parallel with the floor your palms should be facing forward.   Continue lifting torso as you lift your arms towards shoulder height and continue to rotate your palms upwards as your arms continue to lift.  By the time your torso is vertical, your arms are at shoulder height the palms of your hands should be facing the ceiling. Continue lifting your arms up until your palms come together above your head. At this point you should have completed your inhale breath as well.

At the same time that you are lifting your arms and torso upwards you are making sure that your shoulders stay down your back away from your ears and that your shoulder blades are descending down your back towards your hips and that they are flat to your back. This will help to prevent compression of the shoulder and neck muscles.

As you lift your torso and arms you are also lifting your gaze.  Eventually your gaze will be towards your thumbs when you hands are together above your head.  In order to look at the thumbs of your hands when the they are extended above your head move your eyes up so that you look at the thumbs through your eyebrows. This will keep your head nearly level.  Do not tip the head back some much that you compress the muscles in the back of your neck.

Your back continues to be long and tall here .  This posture is not a deep back bend.  Your shoulders stay over your hips and your hips stay over your ankles, your arms are over your head and your gaze is up towards the thumbs.

Crowded space variation

If you are in a crowded room with the mats laid out really close to each other there are two variations you can use to avoid hitting the person next to you when you swing your arms out to the side as you left up from the forward fold.

Option 1 : Stagger your mats

This option will require some co-ordination with your neighbors.  The person in the middle should step forward one step and the people on either side should take one step back.   This way when lift up from the forward fold and swing your arms out to the side the people beside you will not be hit by your arms.

Option 2: Swing the arms forward and up rather than out to the side

In this variation you bring the arms forward and up as you lift your torso up from the forward fold.  You do not swing your arms out to the side, rather you bring them forward and up straight over your head.

Modifications

If your hamstrings are tight and you are unable to get your hands on the floor then you are probably starting this position with your hands on your shins rather than on the floor and your torso will be lifted away from shins.

This is a different starting position but the movements are the same.

Start the inhale, firm Uddiyana Bundha and begin to lift your torso towards a vertical position while you swing your arms out to the side and up towards the head.

Cautions

Be mindful of stress in the low back muscles.  Firm Uddiyana Bundha to help support the low back.  Bending the knees slightly will also help to protect the low back muscles.

Do not compress the muscles in the back of the neck by lifting the chin towards the ceiling an extreme amount.  Roll the eyes up and look up through the eyebrows when you are looking towards the thumbs.

Keep the shoulders down the back and flat to the back.  This will avoid compressing the muscles at the base of the neck.

Next

This is the final position of the Sun Salute.  Next you leave the Sun Salute and return to Tadasana

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Next Position (Tadasana)