Instructions

• Stand in Tadasana.
• Exhaling, come to Uttanasana, placing the hands down on the floor by the side of the feet and in line with them.
• Step back one leg at a time so there is a distance of 3 to 4ft between the hands and the feet.
• Bend the knees and take the legs 4 to 4.5ft back, one by one. Keep the hands 1 to 1.25ft apart and the feet also.
• Hands shoulder width apart.
• Feet in line with the palms.
• Open the palms, spread the fingers and press them evenly on the floor.
• Keep the feet parallel to each other and extend the toes.
• Exhaling, stretch the arms, keeping the elbows straight, lengthen the spine up towards the hips.
• Stretch the thighs backwards and pull the knee-caps in. Place the heels on the floor. Take one or two breaths.
• Keep the legs straight, back of the knees open, lift the thighs up and push them back. Lift the hips so there is space to take the trunk in towards the thighs.
• Stretching the calf muscles, take the heels towards the floor.
• Exhaling, stretch the arms and the legs, and push the thighs back. Move the trunk towards the legs.
• Press the heels into the floor.
• Place the crown of the head on the ground.
• Remain in this final position for 15 to 20 seconds, breathing normally, ensuring not to bend the knees, but tucking the shoulderblades in to broaden the chest and bear the weight on the legs.
• Inhaling, lift the head of the ground, bring the feet nearer the palms, and come to Tadasana.Stand erect with the feet together and the big toes and the heels touching. See that the weight of the body is neither on the heels nor on the toes but in the centre of the arches.Do not tighten the toes, but stretch them from the bottom and keep them relaxed.Keep the ankles in line with each other.
• Tighten the knees, pull the kneecaps upwards and tighten the quadriceps. Keep the shin bones in line with the thigh bones. Breath normally.
• Compress the hips, tighten the buttocks and pull up the muscles at the back of the thighs.
• Press the front of the thighs back.
• Keep the spine erect, raise the sternum, expand the chest. Do not protrude the abdomen but lift it upwards.
• Roll the shoulder bones back and tuck the shoulder blades in.
• Keep the neck erect and the head straight. Do not tilt forwards or backwards. Look straight ahead.
• Keep the arms by the sides of the body, extending downwards and keep the palms facing the thighs, in line with them. Do not lift the shoulders. Keep the fingers together.
• Stand still for 20 to 30 seconds and breath normally.

BKS Iyengar is generally acknowledged to have refined and systemised the yoga poses that those in the West know today. The above instructions are a consolidation of those given by BKS Iyengar, Geeta Iyengar and senior Iyengar Yoga teachers, both from their books and from classes personally attended. We pay our deepest respect to BKS Iyengar and to his senior teachers, and recommend books by the Iyengar family as the most authoritative sources of yoga instruction.