‘Parivrtta’, means revolved, ‘Paschim’ means west and ‘Uttana’ means intense stretch. This pose gives an intense stretch to the sides of your body as it requires you to extend both legs and use only the contact of your forearm against your shin for leverage.
Organising the Pose:-
1. Sit in Dandasana.
2. Raise your arms overhead and lengthen your spine. Draw your lower belly in and up and squeeze your legs together.
3. Bring your fingertips to the floor outside your shins. Take the right forearm to the outside of your left shin and hold the outer left foot. Firmly press the right elbow into the left outer shin [below the knee]. Try and place the right elbow on the floor.
4. Now catch the top of your right foot with your left hand. Shift your head back and extend the crown of your head towards your feet and twist your abdomen and chest towards the sky. This is Parivrtta Paschmottanasana. Hold for 10-20 breaths and repeat on the other side.
5. Come back to Dandasana
DO:
-Press the opposite elbow and shin together to enable to twist the torso further.
-Deepen the twist on an inhalation and anchor through the sitting bones on the exhale
DON’T:
-Don’t muscle your way into the pose
-Don’t round your back.
BENEFITS:
-Stimulates the abdominal organs, tones the kidneys, rejuvenates the spine and helps improve digestion and circulation.
-Adding a twist to the quieting forward bend makes it very invigorating thus giving the benefits of both the styles of poses.
Namaste!
Neelanjana Bharadwaj– Yoga Expert