Utkata means powerful, fierce, uneven.
This asana is like sitting over the imaginary chair hence this is popularly called as Chair pose.
Utkatasana is a simple standing yoga posture. I'm giving this 3 different variations to make the practice of this posture easier for all levels.
How to do utkatasana ( Keeping the arms raised in front):
1. Stand in tadasana keeping the legs hip-width apart and your arms alongside your body. The breathing should be normal.
2. Exhale, slowly bend the knees and lower the trunk till the thighs are parallel to the floor and simultaneously bring your arms in front in line with the shoulders.
3. Now in this posture you imagine sitting on a chair and maintain the arms to be straight and thighs parallel to the floor
4. Do not stoop forward, but keep the chest as far back as possible and breathe normally. You must try to keep your torso as erect as possible.
5. Stay in the pose for 20 seconds to half a minute breathing normally.
6. Inhale straighten the legs, lower the arms and stand in Tadasana.
How to do utkatasana ( Raising arms overhead ):
1. Stand in tadasana keeping the legs hip-width apart and your arms alongside your body. The breathing should be normal.
2. Exhale, slowly bend the knees and lower the trunk till the thighs are parallel to the floor and simultaneously keep your arms straight and raise them overhead from sideways and join the palms.
The biceps must be touching your ears.
3. Now in this posture, you imagine sitting on a chair and maintain the arms to be straight overhead and thighs parallel to the floor.
4. Do not stoop forward, but keep the chest as far back as possible and breathe normally. You must try to keep your torso as erect as possible.
5. Stay in the pose for 20 seconds to half a minute breathing normally.
6. Inhale straighten the legs, lower the arms and stand in Tadasana.
The third variation is for pupils who have difficulty doing the above two postures.
This is called the wall sit.
How to do utkatasana using wall support.
1. Position yourself at a distance of 2 feet from the wall keeping you back against the wall.
2. Keep your feet shoulder-width distance apart and lean against the wall and at the same time slide your body down bending knees to bring your thighs parallel to the floor.
You can keep your hands parallel to the floor or just leave it alongside your body.
3. Stay in this position for a minimum of 20 seconds to 1 minute. The pupils who want to increase stamina may increase the duration of upto 5 minutes.
4. Now slowly slide your back against the wall and come back to normal position.
Benefits of Utkatasana:
1. The sitting posture helps to build the strength in your quadriceps which we are always dependant on doing our daily task like ( Walking, Climbing stairs and getting down, Sitting on chair or running )
2. The practice of this posture helps in posture correction. Nowadays we notice that plenty of health problems is associated with poor posture like slouching in front of the desktop.
The poor posture not only brings muscle ache but also affect the functioning of organs.
Utkatasana practiced regularly corrects the posture and gives stamina to sit or stand properly as it engages the core and strengthen them.
3. This posture stimulates abdominal organs, heart, and lungs.
Contraindication:
1. People with severe knee pain must avoid doing this posture.
2. Do not attempt this posture if you have severe pain in the lower back.
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