UTTHITA HASTA PADANGUSTHASANA
(Upright Hand and Big Toe Pose)
Utthita is one of those Sanskrit words that cover a range of meanings. In general, it relays a sense of dynamic uprightness, striving to move forward toward a “lofty” goal. Hasta means “hand,” pada, “foot” (related to “pedestrian”), and angushtha stands either for the “thumb” or, in this case, the foot’s equivalent, the “big toe.”
Utthita hasta padangushthasana (hereafter UHP) is one of four poses that have pretty much the same shape, except each is performed with the body in a different relation to the floor (and so gravity). In this pose, as you can see in the accompanying photo, the torso/head are perpendicular to the floor with the head above, the raised leg parallel to the floor. Turn the photo upside down (and eliminate the twist) and the pose is still perpendicular pose, but now the head is down, and we have either a headstand or shoulder stand, with a one-leg (eka pada) variation. Now rotate the photo 90 degrees to the right, and we have a reclining pose, supta (literally “lain down to sleep but not fallen asleep”) padangushthasana (SP). Rotate the photo left and we have everybody’s favorite pose, virabhadrasana 3, with the raised torso parallel to the floor balanced, or at least trying to balance, on one leg with the other stretched out behind parallel to the floor.
As with any standing-on-one-leg balancing pose, such as the aforementioned virabhadrasana 3 or Tree (vrikshasana), the obvious challenge for many students is the balance, which is to some degree affected by tightness of the back of the legs, the front groins and outer hips. So usually to begin the practice, we have a support that assists with balance, either a wall or a folding metal chair. We’ll first practice the pose with your back torso supported by a wall, then we’ll try the chair. Good luck!
WHAT YOU WILL/MAY NEED: a free wall, a yoga belt, a sturdy metal chair
PRELIMINARY EXERCISE
But before we try the full pose, we’ll work with a preliminary exercise that will stretch what needs stretching, as well as give us the opportunity to preview an action crucial to the success of not only this pose in particular, but without exaggeration, most poses in general. And that pose is UHP’s reclining, horizontal relative, SP. Regardless of your level of flexibility, you’ll need your belt for this exercise.
Lie on your back with the back of your left heel on the floor and pressed firmly against your wall. Exhale your right thigh to your belly and wrap the belt around your right sole. Inhale, raise the leg up but stop with the knee slightly bent. Hold the belt in your left hand, and press your right thumb deeply into the right hip crease or groin, with the rest of the fingers splayed across the outer hip. With your knee still bent and your thumb “digging” into the groin, use your hand to give the thigh an outward (lateral) rotation, which likely turn the kneecap to “look” off to the right as well. As you do this you may feel the right side of you torso lengthening somewhat.
Now very slowly and carefully, with your thumb still plugged firmly in the groin, begin to straighten the right knee. Pay close attention to what you feel is happening under your thumb. You may feel the groin start to “thicken” on the first try, so repeat the movement several times until it seems to you that your groin remains soft and deep and your outer hip released.
Once you have that feeling, hold the belt in both hands with the elbows fully straightened. NEVER use the belt to increase the stretch by pulling your leg toward your torso; rather, when you feel ready to go farther in the stretch, bend the knee slightly, dig into the groin with your imaginary thumb, then push STRAIGHT UP against the resistance of the belt. Never straighten your knee by pushing on the kneecap. Instead think of moving the two ends of the leg farther apart: the head of the thigh bone sinks to the back of the pelvis while the back of the heel heads for the ceiling (yoga feet, not ballet). Spend a minute or two stretching the back of the leg, then take the belt in your left hand.
Once again, slightly bend the right knee and use your right hand to do what you did at the start of the exercise. Then swing the right leg over your torso to the left, be sure to keep your back torso fully on the floor. Then repeat the same process you just completed with the leg vertical, that is, straighten the knee slowly, keeping the groin soft and the outer hip released. When you do this, you may feel an increase in the resistance of the outer right hip, which will then again tend to shorten your right side. If so, you’ll have to push a little harder with your hand to maintain the release. Stay for a minute or so, inhale the leg back to vertical and release it to the floor. Repeat with the legs reversed for approximately the same length of time.
PREPARATION
Stand and go to your yoga wall. If you had some difficulty straightening the knees in the reclining exercise, have your yoga belt slung over one shoulder, just in case. Lean your back against the wall but have your heels maybe six inches or so away. First, physically slide your torso across the wall to the left. When you look down along the mid-line of your torso (an imaginary line drawn down through your mid-sternum and navel to the floor), the center of your left foot should be directly under that line, NOT under the left hip. This centers the base of your standing support directly below your center of gravity, which ideally will help your balance. Spread your toes and the ball of your foot as widely as possible to maximize your contact with the floor. With an exhale, bend your right knee and press the thigh lightly to your belly, holding it in place with your left hand.
Now approximate what you did in the first part of the opening exercise: press your right thumb in the hip crease and use your hand to outwardly turn the thigh. You might let your thigh move slightly off to the side of your torso to help with the thigh rotation and hip release.
PRACTICE
Now comes the tricky part. You may find this instruction rather confusing at first–I know I did when I first heard it many years ago–but once you “get it,” you may find yourself more comfortable in the pose with a bit more stability.
So, with the right thigh still near the torso, reach your right hand along the INSIDE of your right leg and hold the big toe with your index and middle fingers, thumb wrapped around both. I’m emphasizing the arm INSIDE the leg because it then doesn’t interfere with the thigh’s outward rotation. If it isn’t possible to hold the toe directly–and please don’t struggle to do so–it’s best to use a belt wrapped around the sole as you had in the reclining exercise. Now very slowly with an inhale, MAINTAINING THE DEPTH OF THE GROIN AND RELEASE OF THE OUTER HIP, begin to straighten the right knee. In the best of all possible worlds, the head of the
thigh bone will feel like it’s continuing to release floor-ward as the heel reaches out.
Once again, don’t pull up on the toe or belt to increase the stretch of the back leg, the downward release of the head of the thigh bone is far more important. Remember, moving into and holding these poses should increase, not decrease, the feeling of spaciousness in the body-mind. Just as you did when reclining, try to move from the bent-knee to full extension of the knee several times.
Now the moment of Truth has arrived. How do you feel about balancing? If you don’t feel you’re ready to try, stay where you are a bit longer, then release the foot. But if you feel ready, press your left had to the wall beside your hip and fix your gaze on an imaginary point on the floor about six feet away. Keeping the hand on the wall, lift your back one millimeter away from the wall. Still standing? How does it feel? Trusting that the wall won’t leave , knowing the wall is there if the room happens to move and throws off your balance. How does that feel? Next begin to slowly lessen the pressure of your hand on the wall until your fingertips are just barely touching. Finally, remove your hand from the wall and rest it on your left hip. After a while release your leg with and exhale and stand on your own two feet again. Reverse the instructions and repeat.
If you look now at the photo, you’ll see our teacher doing the pose the second way, with the raised leg rather than the back torso supported. I recommend using a chair to support the leg rather than a fire hydrant, but that’s entirely up to you. There are actually myriad ways to support the leg, be creative, all the world is potentially a prop. Except anything made of glass.
Notice too that that our teacher’s performing–excellently I might add, with exquisite taste in background art–a variation of UHP, often designated UHP 3 or UHP C (the 2 or B variation takes the raised leg out to the side of the torso). If you want a Sanskrit name try utthita parivritta hasta padangushthasana (UPHP). Parivritta here means “turned round, revolved,” and possibly with our teacher in mind, “spreading brilliance all around” (it’s true). Let’s work on UPHP with a chair.
Position the chair back a few inches from your wall and pad the back with a blanket. Once again, make sure the standing (left) foot is directly below the torso’s vertical mid-line. Raise your right leg, rest the ankle on the chair back and plug your heel into the wall. Do everything to prepare here that you did when you had your back to the wall. Rest your hands on your hips and feel the position of the pelvis, it’s not uncommon for the raised leg hip to be hiked higher than the standing leg’s hip. With your foot supported on a chair, you can exaggerate the preliminary bent-knee, outwardly rotated thigh by leaning slightly toward the wall and angling your right knee to the right. Then as you’ve been doing, straighten your knee slowly, keeping the outer hip releasing toward the floor.
Once you’ve secured your position, then simply rotate your torso to the right. Make sure you turn from the pelvis, allowing your left hip to move toward the wall, not from the lower back. When the hip moves forward as it should, you may feel the left knee buckle slightly and the left heel’s pressure lighten somewhat on the floor. In response then, press back on the head of the left thigh bone (essentially the same action applied to the raised leg) to re-affirm the contact of the heel and the floor.
You might start by pressing your left hand to the outer right thigh while leaning your upper torso back slightly against firm shoulder blades. You can then work your hand down the outer leg in stages to the right foot and the full pose. Be sure to continue lengthening the front torso, hunching or side-bending aren’t conducive to this pose.
We can learn a lot about this and other standing poses by looking carefully at our teacher’s photo. Notice that her standing leg is straight without hardening the knee. Then contemplate her raised left leg, hip and torso. That the hip is released is evidenced by her left side torso, which is impressively lengthened. This is what is meant by not hunching or side-bending, in any twist when the spine is long, that twist can move to its fullest without the threat of injury. Our teacher has her free arm stretched out to the side, which is one possibility. Be aware that her arms are in line with shoulders, clearly demonstrating our teacher’s detailed knowledge of alignment. At this early stage of the practice, it might be best to simply continue to use your thumb to press the groin. As for turning the head, notice that her chin tucks down toward the shoulder. If you can do exactly this, then it’s OK to turn your head
How do you do UPHP without support? Find out by attending Mary Paffard’s workshop, Saturday, May 18, at the Nest from 2:30 to 5:00 pm.