Enter
- Bring your feet together, heels and big toes touching.
- Extend your toes flat along the floor.
- Engage your thighs without pushing your knees backward.
- Rest your arms alongside, palms facing your thighs.
Steps
Support
Both feet; weight shared between heels and balls of feet.
Hold
- Keep your pelvis neutral and maintain your spine’s natural curves.
- Lengthen your torso through the crown of your head.
Exit
- To continue, inhale and raise your arms overhead.
- Breathing
- Breathe through your nose without holding your breath.
- Gaze
- Keep your head upright and look straight ahead.
- Duration
- A few breaths.
Adapt
Adaptations
- Feet apartPlace parallel feet hip-width apart.
- WallRest your back against it; leave space at your spinal curves.
- ChairSit upright, both feet supported directly beneath your knees.
- Block between thighsHold a block between your thighs without shifting your pelvis.
Variations
- Palms forward, arms alongside: an option.
- Ūrdhva Hastāsana: arms raised, heels grounded.
- Palm tree: interlace your fingers, turn your palms up, and raise your heels.
Signals of effort
- Standing balance with your feet together.
- Palm-tree variation: forefoot balance and a brief breath hold.