Upavistha Konasana

Western Physiology

Upavistha Konasana has a therapeutic effect on mental and physical health.

•  Upavistha Konasana improves mental health:
  • It helps in calming the brain and improves sleep patterns (Ebrahimi et al., 2017).

• Upavistha Konasana stretches and strengthens the muscles:
  • It helps stretch the hamstring muscles and increase their flexibility (Grabara & Szopa, 2015).

• Other therapeutic effects of Upavistha Konasana include but are not limited to:
  • It improves the blood flow in the pelvic region, thereby keeping the organs located there healthy.
  • It helps prevent hernia and can also cure mild cases of hernia.
  • It helps regularise the menstrual flow and stimulate the ovaries; hence, this pose is a boon for females.
  • It helps stretch the muscles at the legs’ inside and back sides.
  • It stimulates the organs present in the abdominal cavity.
  • It increases the flexibility of the spine (Grabara & Szopa, 2015).
  • It has therapeutic uses for conditions such as arthritis and sciatica and also aids in kidney detoxification.
  • It increases cardiorespiratory endurance (Lau et al., 2015).
  • It positively affects women with pregnancy complications (Dangel et al., 2019).

Yogic Physiology

This posture improves the flow of the apana. The seated angle reduces pitta and vata and increases both a sense of calm and steadiness. It massages the marma points of the hips, lohitaksha marma (over the lymph nodes in the hips) and also guda marma (around the anus and surrounding area). Guda marma looks after the first chakra, apana vayu, the urinary, excretory, reproductive and menstrual channels, testes and ovaries.
It relates to vata’s site of accumulation in the large intestine.

Chinese Medicine

Thispostire affects kidney and bladder meridians on the backs of the legs.

Contradictions and Cautions

People with lower-back injuries should sit high on a folded blanket (or even a chair as required) and keep the trunk relatively upright.

Preparatory Asanas

• Baddha Konasana
• Dandasana
• Prasarita Padottanasana
• Supta Baddha Konasana

Follow up Asanas

Upavistha Konasana is an ideal preparatory pose for most seated forward bends and twists and wide-leg standing poses. It can also be used to prepare for:

• Baddha Konasana
• Bakasana
• Gomukhasana
• Malasana
• Padmasana
• Siddhasana or Sukhasana
• Supta Padangusthasana

Tips for Beginners

Upavistha Konasana is a difficult forward bend for many beginners. If you have trouble bending even a little bit forward, it’s perfectly acceptable to bend your knees slightly. You might even support your knees on thinly rolled blankets, but remember, as you move into the forward bend, keeping the knee caps pointing toward the ceiling is still important.

Variations

Upavistha Konasana has a twisted variation. From the upright position described in step 1, turn your torso to the right with an exhalation. Press your left hand to the outside of your right thigh and your right hand on the ground to the outside of your right hip. With a series of exhalations, walk your left hand down along the outside of the leg. Press the top of the left thigh into the floor to serve as the anchor for this movement. Stop at a comfortable place along the way or, if your flexibility allows it, reach your left hand to the outer part of your right foot. Make sure, as you twist to the right and move the hand along the leg, that you don’t shorten your right side; continue pressing your right hand against the floor to help lengthen that side of the torso. Stay for a minute. To leave this pose, exhale and swing your torso back to neutral. Then return to upright with an inhalation and repeat to the left.

Modifications and Props

Beginners may not be able to bring their trunks closer to the floor. Take a bolster or thickly folded blanket and place it on the floor in front of you, its long axis perpendicular to the pelvis. With an exhalation, bend forward and lie with your torso on this support.

Deepen the Asana

Advanced practitioners can help themselves with the forward bend, first, perform the first and second steps of the “How to Perform Upavistha Konasana” section. Then extend and wrap your index and middle fingers around your big toes, pinching each pair of toes with your thumb. Pull your toes back as you lean forward, but actively push off with the bases of your big toes to keep your inner and outer ankles level. Bend your elbows to the sides and lift them off the ground as your torso drops.