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Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)

One of our readers left the following comment on our post Featured Sequence: Mini Sun Salutation:
I am surprised you are including a deep forward bend. Research supports avoiding forward bends in osteoporosis and osteopenia and considering there are over 54 million people with osteoporosis and many don't know they are osteoporotic it seems safer not to teach forward bends for healthy aging. I think we have a higher percentage of yoga practitioners who fit the risk profile....slight, female, white, especially if they had a restricted diet in their younger years. 
This reader is concerned about practitioners who may have osteoporosis doing deep forward bends as we showed in our Mini Sun Salutation. And, indeed, for those with OP or even undiagnosed OP (they have it but don’t know it yet) forward folds hold the potential of increasing the risk of the most common fracture in those with OP: a wedge fracture of the thoracic spine. So, if you fall into this camp, I’d recommend modifying your standing forward bends by allowing your knees to bend as much as you need to help release your pelvis over the thigh bones as you bend, and maintain a more neutral alignment of your spine as you go down. That means avoiding rounding your upper back in the area of your thoracic spine.
I have a student in one of my class in her late 60s with recently diagnosed OP, and we discussed her modifying her forward bends in just this way for poses such as Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) and Widespread Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottansana), and she has been diligent about doing so.
Having said all that, I’d like you to keep in mind that our blog is not just for older adults who might have or be at risk for OP—or any condition for that matter. So, the Mini Sun Salutation post was really just an opportunity for us to share with you a basic common modern yoga practice that you can refer to as needed. We will try to add in a few more cautions to these sequences in the future, but you should always read our posts on yoga poses and sequences through the lens of your own personal situation, and take good care of yourself by making any modifications to the poses to better serve your needs. And if you are uncertain as to the safety or appropriateness of any YFHA recommendations, check things out with your local teachers. 

—Baxter

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by Baxter and Nina

The Mini Sun Salutation a simple, accessible version of the classic Sun Salutation, which skips the Plank or Pushup pose and the Upward-Facing Dog or Cobra pose that is usually included after the Downward-Facing Dog pose. This modified Sun Salutation is a great way to warm up for a full Sun Salutation, and provides a simple alternative for people who are just starting to learn this sequence.

This sequence is also quite invigorating, and can uplift you if you’re feeling depressed or stimulate you if you’re feeling lethargic. If you’re feeling anxious, you can use a Sun Salutation to work off some of your excess energy before you move onto more relaxing poses (see 10 Ways to Soothe Anxiety with Yoga).
Mini Sun Salutation

1. Start by standing in Mountain pose (Tadasana) at the front of your mat, with your hands in Namaste position in front of your heart. Take a moment to check in with your body and your mind. For your first round, start out at a reasonable pace and let yourself warm up gradually. 

Hi all!

First of all, apologies for my long-ish absence from the blog - life has been busy, and I have been busy enjoying it!

Anyway, last week a reader (who also happens to be my Aunt!) asked me for a variation on the sun salutations and vinyasas that could be done with a severely sprained wrist. Having had this type of injury before, I've recorded two short videos that show you what I recommend.

1. Sun Salutations (from standing)

This sequence replicates includes back-bending and forward bending, just like a traditional sun salutation, but it used only the legs and the abdominals - no weight on the wrists. So it's safe to do even with a badly sprained wrist.

However, if you are not used to doing the roll-up shown in the video, it can take some practice until you are able to come back up to standing all in one go. As you are coming up, make sure you hug your belly button to your spine so you can lift to standing from the core. If you're not sure you can do this without "catching" yourself with your hands, just skip this step and come back to standing after navasana (boat pose) by crossing your ankles and standing back up.

You can also reverse this to do a vinyasa-style movement in between poses from sitting.

2. Vinyasa (not for severe sprains as it puts weight on the elbows)

This sequence could be used to replace a vinyasa from downward-facing dog. Because your weight is on your elbows it is fairly safe for the wrists, but some of the weight does radiate down the forearms, so I wouldn't use it while you still have an acute injury - it would be more appropriate for the recovery phase.

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Last week I linked to Nadine's post on pelvic alignment for upward facing dog. This week, more on that pesky SI joint in the tricky transition between plank pose and upward facing dog.

For me, plank pose really sets the tone of your sun salutations, so it's worth spending some time to make sure you are set up properly. If you have SI issues and you naturally tend towards an anterior pelvic tilt (or as Nadine calls it, "sexy back" - LOL), then plank pose is another pose where you want to tuck the pelvis anteriorly. The best way I have found of 'feeling' this is to think about tucking the tailbone while hugging your belly button up towards your spine and holding it there. It's useful to employ the abdominal muscles to stabilise the pelvis in a neutral or anterior tilt, because if you then keep the belly muscles engaged as you start your transition, your pelvis will most likely stay in the right position as well.  (NB: If you have a fairly flat lumbar curve or you naturally tend towards an anterior pelvic tilt, you can just focus on keeping the spine long and the abdominals and legs engaged. Don't try to tuck your tailbone too far in the other direction!)

From plank pose, the next tricky bit is to maintain the pelvic tilt as you come down towards the floor. This is quite challenging because you are fighting against gravity. It takes a fair amount of muscular engagement from the arms, abdominals and legs to get this stability in chaturanga dandasana, and probably years of practice! If you are having SI issues or lower back pain, I recommend working with your knees on the floor until you are able to keep your back stable. Doing it this way still builds a lot of arm and abdominal strength, but makes the transition much easier on the SI joint because it is easier to keep your pelvis tucked and your back "flat" as you come down.


Finally, work on coming up into the backbend. Here again, if you have SI issues or are experiencing lower back pain, I recommend working with cobra pose instead of upward facing dog. A super-safe way of doing cobra pose is to perform the pose with your hands lifted off the floor, like this:


With your hands lifted off the floor, you have to use your abdominal and back muscles at the same time to lift your chest, meaning that the SI joint stays nice and stable. Resist the temptation to lift the chest higher by pushing the hands into the floor and hyper-bending the SI joint!! That is a sure recipe for lower back pain in the long run!

If your back is feeling OK and you are comfortable keeping the abdominals engaged and the pelvis tucked, then work on coming into upward facing dog. Remember, keep the abdominals firm, the pelvis tucked, and the legs strongly engaged in this pose.  This will help to reduce the angle of the bend in the SI joint and help you get a longer, smoother curve in your lumbar spine, as you can see in the pictures below!


How do you practice (or teach) this transition?

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