How to perform Extended Side Angle Pose
Bend your front leg and place your hand by of your foot as you stretch your other arm up and over your head. Pull your waist away from the floor, keep your back straight. Place a block under your hand if necessary.
What is Utthita Parsvakonasana?
Extended side flank stretch. This is a key standing posture. It tones the leg muscles, the spinal muscles and encourages flexibility of the knee, hip, ankle, and shoulder.
When to use Utthita Parsvakonasana?
As with all standing poses, this pose builds a firm foundation in the practitioner. The legs and spine become flexible and also steady. The feet are grounded, but the spine learns to lengthen, and the torso to turn away from the floor. This pose is said to enhance lung capacity, benefit the muscles of the heart, improve digestion, and tone the waist and hips.
Parsvakonasana teaches the student to remain active in the back leg, and not to collapse weight into the front leg or front hand. The spine dynamically extends as if from the root of the outer back heel.
