How to perform Upward Salute with Interlocked Fingers
Stretch your arms in front of you and interlock your fingers. Turn your palms inside out and lift your arms up overhead, making sure to keep your shoulders open. Change the interlock of your fingers and repeat.
What is Urdhva Baddanguliyasana?
This is a good shoulder-opening exercise. It helps your increase the range of motion in your shoulder joints.
As you stand in Tadasana, your feet hip-width apart, extend your arms forwards and interlock your fingers. Rotate your palms outward and draw your elbows in. This action starts to activate the muscles in your arms. As you inhale, raise your arms up, focusing on keeping your shoulders drawing downward. It can also be done from a seated position (think of Parvatasana in Virasana). Whichever way you do it, though, make sure you don’t tip backwards: keep an eye on your Tadasana line
Practising this pose helps the practitioner identify any unusual stiffness in the joints or muscles and can help point to imbalances in the shoulder and upper body area.
When to use Urdhva Baddanguliyasana?
Urdhva Baddanguliyasana can be incorporated into many different kinds of sequences, from the calming and restorative to the invigorating and dynamic. It can be used both as a warm-up and as part of a sun salutation routine.
It improves joint function and stimulates the nervous system. Moreover, it helps open up your chest, thus making it easier to increase your lung capacity. As you press upward through the palms of your hands, this pose will start to bring life to the side of your chest and you will feel a light stretch as your side rib muscles activate. The benefits provided by this pose make it both calming and energising. Another positive aspect of Urdhva Baddanguliyasana is that it can be used outside of your yoga practice, as you’re sitting at your desk, for example.
