Posted on July 17, 2026 at 09:42 AM
Yoga magazine archives The series is a curated collection of articles originally published in previous issues beginning in 1975. This article on the upward salutation (Urdhva Hastasana) first appeared in the March-April 2001 issue of Yoga magazine.
For many of us, Urdhva Hastasana is a pose that we unconsciously practice differently every morning: we get out of bed, stand with eyes half-open and yawn before raising the arms, arching the spine, and bringing the head back. It’s an intuitive movement that helps move energy around after a night’s sleep.
When we first encounter this pose in a yoga class, we often take it for granted. Why waste time practicing a pose we feel good about when there are so many poses to conquer? There may also be a natural tendency for beginners to feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in seemingly easy poses. Unfortunately, these feelings can become barriers to connecting with the more subtle qualities of the pose.
By intelligently mastering simple poses like Urdhva Hastasana (Upward facing hand position or upward salutation), you can gain the strength and confidence needed to advance your practice. The pose also contains the seeds of more advanced poses including arm balances and backbends.
How to Practice Urdhva Hastasana (Overhead Salute)
He loves Most of the posesThe movement principles in Urdhva Hastasana are divided into three parts: entering the pose, being in the pose, and exiting the pose. Whether you practice it individually or as part of a flow series, the pose should be performed with these principles in mind.
1. Get into the pose
It’s helpful to start by understanding the source of the movement in the pose. There’s a very basic principle in physics that you’ve probably heard since you were in elementary school: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In yoga terms, this concept applies directly to the movement of subtle energy in the body. If you want something to go up, connect with the energy that is going down.
To begin Urdhva Hastasana, stand with your feet together and your arms at your sides. Feel the softness of the soles of your feet on the ground and the solidity of the floor supporting your weight evenly across each foot. This is your land. Note that there is a natural lift that accompanies this grounding.
Allow the breath to move freely along the entire torso, without distending the abdomen. As you exhale, lighten the weight of your organs and release them downward, feeling the navel turn inward slightly. Feel your organs resting on your pelvic floor, and notice the stability of your legs and the slight lift moving up your spine.
When you pick up this energy, yield your shoulders and begin to inhale, feeling your breath across your back as you raise your arms. Your arms should feel light and long, like a child flying down the road in a car with his arm sticking out the window. Effortless weightlifting is inherently bliss, and in Urdhva Hastasana, bliss is the outward expression of the inward movement of energy, where all efforts are coordinated and directed from the abdominal center.
At the peak of the pose, the arms come together above your head as you bring your palms together. Spread your shoulder blades and pull your chin slightly (toward the middle of your throat) while throwing your head back and staring at your thumbs. If you have neck complications, keep your head upright until you gain the strength and understanding needed to get it back up.
2. Being there
When practicing Urdhva Hastasana as an individual asana, the depth of the pose is determined by repeatedly letting go or dropping the inner body, shoulders and front ribs. With practice, you will begin to notice how force builds up from your vital center in the abdomen and energy rises straight up through the back.
Once you assume the pose, as you exhale, smooth the upper part of the lungs and feel the space around the heart increasing. This energy creates a drop in the inner body, smoothness in the ribs, and more space He breathes. Neck extension improves, and the spine straightens naturally without excessive muscle effort. As you inhale, imagine the breath entering through the navel – slow, smooth and regular. Every time your weight shifts and takes you off center, pay attention and make the necessary adjustments.
3. Exit
When all parts of the body are brought together at the peak of this pose, you should feel a deep sense of connection. In this state, you can connect to the force that creates all things and causes them to grow – through the union of complementary opposites. This is the creative energy of harmony.
When you are ready to come out of the pose, exhale slowly, drawing your hands down with the palms together in Namaste. As the hands approach the face, let the proximity – the energy – of the hands pull the face down until the head returns to the neutral position.
Continue to let the hands descend together, feeling the energy as it passes through the throat, heart, solar plexus, navel, and genitals. As this energy moves down the front of the body, feel stillness and lightness in the spine. Close your eyes and feel the calm echoing from the deepest corners of your consciousness.
the Yoga Sutras It gives many clues on how to develop the right attitude for practice. In its simplest translation, Sutra It means “thread”. Like a thread, each sutra represents the absolute minimum necessary to tie a concept together. The sutra’s brevity allowed practitioners in past ages to memorize the entire work and then clarify the meanings through discourse with other practitioners and ongoing personal practice. Although they may appear simple on the surface, sutras often contain complex meanings, with literal and hidden interpretations.
Metaphor A We arebetween It will serve you well on your way to Urdhva Hastasana. It is a situation that requires a resolution of real and hidden forces, and the less one details, the more one reveals.
