[Pose Of the Week] Standing Sidebend Pose (Beginner)

Stretch & stabilize in Standing Sidebend Pose – a beginner level side stretch pose to enhance your practice…

Standing Sidebend Pose (Parsva Tadasana) – also known as Side-Bending Pose, Side Stretch Pose, or Standing Lateral Flex Pose – is a basic standing yoga pose that provides a stretch for the entire side-body.

This warmup pose is often done at the beginning or end of a yoga session, and it helps to improve spine and shoulder mobility, while opening the chest and stretching the obliques and intercostal muscles between the ribs. It also stretches the arms and shoulders, and may help to relieve upper back pain and improve lung function. This is a great, simple stretch to practice daily to help improve mobility and stretch areas of the body that are often neglected.

Those with limited mobility can also do this pose while seated in a chair.

This is a very gentle stretch and should be suitable for most people, but those with shoulder or lower back injuries or recent surgery to these areas should avoid this pose.

How to Do Standing Sidebend Pose:

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, toes pointing straight ahead.
Inhale, sweep your arms out and up, interlace your fingers leaving your index and middle fingers free to point up. (You can also interlace your fingers and press the palms of your hands up to the sky.)
Exhale, engage your core, and bend to the right.
Inhale, come back to center, reach up. Exhale, bend to the left.
Be sure to keep your chest open and your arms by your ears to avoid twisting or collapsing forward.
Repeat 2-5 times on each side—moving with your breath.