Posted on July 3, 2026 at 04:41 AM
Yoga magazineQ archives The series is a curated collection of articles originally published in previous issues beginning in 1975. This article is on Prasarita Padutanasana (Stand with legs wide and bend forward) first appeared in the March-April 1993 issue of Yoga magazine.
Hatha yoga was designed as a way to experience how life expresses itself through us. By honoring the fluid nature of our being, we can make choices based on our authentic inner experience. We can connect with deep knowledge carried by the soul, the messenger of the spirit. Here’s how to try it with Prasarita Padutanasana.
How to practice Prasarita Padutanasana
Initial practice of Prasarita Padutanasana
The purpose of this exercise is to notice some spontaneous breathing movements in the pelvic floor and along the spine. Sit on the edge of a chair with your legs slightly wider than your hips. Position the feet so that the legs and pelvis form a tripod. Make sure that the knees are neither in nor out and that your feet are slightly in front of the knees for a secure base of support.
Starting in an upright sitting position, slowly bend from the top of your head, allowing the wave of your breath to sway your spine. Move slowly – it should take about 20 breaths to fold all the way Bend forward. Sometimes the pulse of your breath will lift you slightly out of the stretch; Sometimes it will launch you forward. The upward oscillation usually occurs on inhalation and the downward oscillation on exhalation. However, this is not a hard and fast rule, because the way breathing shapes the body is closely related to your position relative to gravity.
Continue to roll forward until your head is hanging with the arms on the outside of the legs (Figure 1). Now focus on the breathing movement in and through the abdomen Pelvic floor. Notice how the tailbone rises when inhaling. Also notice how the perineum opens and widens. When the tailbone rises, the pelvis swings forward, causing a slight curvature of the lumbar spine. With the exhale, the tailbone retracts and the abdomen and pelvic floor become more toned. Expand your awareness along your spine and feel how these wave movements that begin in the pelvic floor travel along your spine. You may notice areas in your pelvis and spine that tighten against the up and down current. Consciously deepen your exhalation in these places until the muscles relax and release the vertebrae downward.
One reason this position facilitates breathing movement in the pelvis and back is that bending the knees deactivates the hamstring muscles attached to the sit bones and running along the back of the legs. Relaxed hamstrings no longer limit the ability of the pelvis to move freely around the heads of the thigh bones. To start Hamstring stretchesWalk your feet a few inches. Notice how the stretch intensifies in the back of the legs. Continue to walk your feet away from the chair, stopping after each step to release your spine forward. Just go as far as you can without holding your breath. (Imagine how your practice would change if you never put yourself in a position where you couldn’t breathe!) After a minute, walk your feet down to just below the knees and then slowly roll up. Sit for a moment with your spine erect and see if you can still feel the movement of the breath in the pelvic floor and along the spine.
Beginner practice
Stand with your feet four to five feet apart and your toes turned inward so that your knees point in the same direction as your ankles. Spread the toes from the base of the big toe to the little toe and adjust your weight so that you stand over the middle of the feet. Lengthen the back so that the front of the abdomen is open and breathing is free. Place your hands on your hips and begin to slowly lean forward, keeping the length up to the front of your torso as you descend. Keeping your weight over your feet, extend your arms in front of you, with your fingertips on the floor (Figure 2).
Before focusing on the spine, take a moment to establish a stable base through the legs. When your foundation is secure, your spinal muscles can fully relax. Look again at your knees and check if they are “sulking” (collapsing inward). When the kneecap collapses, you can move the kneecap from side to side with your fingers. As the kneecap falls, internal torque across the joint may damage the knee over time. Firmly contract the quadriceps along the front of the thigh so that the patella rises and begins to “smile.” When the kneecap is lifted, you will no longer be able to move it with your fingers. Make sure not to lock your knees by placing your weight on your heels and bending your knees back. Use the minimum amount of effort necessary to stabilize the joints so you retain a sense of flexibility throughout the legs.
Now bring your awareness back to your spine. As you inhale, allow the upward movement of the inhale to lift your spine. The entire shoulder girdle and arms will also be slightly raised in response to the incoming breath. As you exhale, allow the spine to release inside the body forward toward the crown of the head. While these spine movements are spontaneous, you can also consciously direct your breath to achieve a greater sense of release and length in the back. To do this, you must clearly visualize the direction you wish to release. From the midpoint at the back of the waist, visualize the spine lengthening evenly in opposite directions.
With clear intention, you direct the breath like a glassblower, blowing the body’s shape from the inside out. Then the body can open up as a result of a greater internal expansion in the inner body that extends outward to the surface of the skin. This process is not a manipulation of the soul and body, but a dialogue with them, where you remain sensitive to the feedback you receive.
If you are unable to feel your breath movements, you may find it helpful to exhale through your mouth, automatically making sighing sounds. Mouth breathing allows greater movement of the diaphragm and less control. If your awareness of breathing is still very limited, you may need to adjust your body position. The most common reason for restricting the diaphragm in forward bends is to attempt to bend forward by rounding the back and pulling the abdomen back towards the thighs (Figure 3 – incorrect). Because the hamstrings are tight, the pelvis is unable to rotate around the heads of the femurs and remains frozen with the spine bent forward. In this position Breathing will be severely limitedYou will not be able to feel any release of the spine when you exhale.
Adjust your position by raising your hands on the blocks or on the seat of the chair. Make sure your hands are placed directly under the shoulders so that the front of the abdomen is open and the breastbone extends forward, away from the abdomen (Figure 4). It is important to position yourself in a position that allows the breath to move freely rather than placing your hands on the floor. It’s like surfing: you have to be in the right place at the right time to catch the wave. By positioning the body so that breathing is free, you can catch the wave of breathing and allow your breathing to carry and support you.
Continued practice
If you are able to proceed into Prasarita Padottanasana without compromising full, free breathing, bring your fingertips in line with your toes to make room for a deeper forward bend. Slowly bend the elbows until the arms form a right angle with the ends of the elbows extended away from the shoulders (Figure 5). To make sure your neck and head can extend freely, move the shoulders away from the ears and toward the elbows. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed between the inner and outer wrist.
Stay in Prasarita Padutanasana for a minute or so, allowing the breath to exit along the spine. You may find that the body automatically begins to move deeper into the position. If your torso has been released more so that your head is touching the floor, try a final version where you hold your ankles. Bring the head roughly in line with the feet and extend the shoulders out to the sides so that the arms are fully extended. Keep your weight balanced over the middle of your feet so you don’t strain the back of your knees and the area around your sit bones. Stay in the position for 30 seconds to a minute longer.
To come up, bring feet close together and place hands on hips as you rotate to a standing position. While you are standing, monitor the state of your body and mind. When our practice is guided by breath rather than ego ambition, the mind becomes calm. By practicing hatha yoga in this way, we make our openness more important than achieving a yoga pose.
Continue to explore the intersection of mind, body, and spirit in the physical practice of yoga in this companion article on unification as a definition of yoga.
