Powerful Pose / Utkatasana

Step by step:

• From Mountain pose / Tadasana, Inhale as you lift your arms up, keep your arms so you can see them through the sides of your eyes, and so you can keep the neck long and shoulders down.
• Exhale as you bend the knees as if you’re about to sit down on a chair, bringing your thighs as close to parallel to the floor, as possible. Most weight is in the front of the heels. Keep the knees in line with the toes, not beyond.
• Your back stays straight, but it leans forward over the thighs a bit, your looking to form a right angle between the thighs and the torso.
• Pull your abdomen slightly in and up, this helps to extend the lower back.
• Sitting bones point down.
• Slide your shoulder blades down along your spine and firm them in to the back.
• You can stay in Utkatasana between the 5-15 breaths
• To come out of this pose, inhale, and as you press into the 4 corners of your feet straighten the legs, lenghtening through the crown of your head and come back into Mountain pose. Exhale lower your arms.

Click on Utkatasana to find out about the benefits of this pose.