Urdhva Hastasana: Upward Salute
Our second yoga tutorial: urdhva hastasana, upward salute. Urdvha Hastasana comes from the Sanskrit words urdhva (raised, or upward), hasta (hand), and asana (posture). This posture grows out of Tadasana, so we maintain all of the foundational alignment and sensations, but we lift the arms overhead. If you missed the Tadasana tutorial, you can check it out here.
We will set up the pose from Tadasana:
Inhale, raise the arms above the head- Keep biceps and triceps active
- The palms face in, towards each other. You may bring the palms to touch above you, or keep them separated, at shoulder-width distance
- Keep the shoulder blades pulling towards each other while creating an inward rotation in the arms (like you want the armpits to touch)
- Pretend there is a block between your palms and gently press into it (if you have a block handy, try this!)
- Notice if your lower front ribs protrude forward; bring your front ribs down toward your pelvis, and in toward your spine
- Continue to pull the pubic bone up towards the navel
- Lift the gaze to the thumbs, if this does not bother the neck
- Breathe
I am a yoga teacher who focuses on bridging the gap between what happens on the mat and life off the mat. Yoga is life – it is meant to be lived!
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