Paschimottanasana
Techniques
Sit on the floor with you legs stretched straight in front. Bent your trunk forward. Bend you trunk lower so that you head rests on you knee. Draw the abdomen in while bending lower. This will make the bending of the trunk easy. While bending bring you head between the arms. Aspirants with a flexible spine can touch their knees with their head on the first attempt.
Benefits
- This is a fine stretching exercise.
- It builds a powerful abdomen and is found to be a good remedy against constipation and indigestion.
- It may be prescribed with advantage against seminal weakness and also against the possibility of a recurrence of sciatica or severe pain in the upper part of the leg.
- If maintained for a long time, it promotes constipation instead of relieving it.
- The pose is capable of rousing spiritual forces that are felt traveling upwards through the spine.
Cautions
People who find their spine stiff should begin this exercise slowly. Jerks could injure the rigid muscle. Care must be taken not to allow the knee to bend, straight knees being essential for maintaining a full stretch of lumbosacral region. People, who are advanced in years or are prematurely old, stand on a different footing, as far as this Asana is concerned. They should proceed with the practice slowly and steadily. Instead of trying to hold their foot they should try to hold their legs, either at the ankle or even higher up near the knee. The measure of this posture must be judiciously adjusted. When maintained for a long time, it promotes constipation instead of relieving it, chronically constipated people should avoid practicing Paschimottanasana for more than 3 minutes in a day.
