ChairSave PDF
Utkatasana
oot-kah-TAH-sah-nah
Strengthens legs, stretches shoulders and chest
Massages heart
Brings vitality
How to perform Chair
- Stand with your feet together or hip-width apart, feet parallel.
- Reach your arms toward the sky with an inhale, palms facing each other.
- Bend your knees with an exhale and shift your hips back and down, as if you’re sitting on an imaginary chair. Make sure that your knees are not beyond your toes. Gaze diagonally downward.
- Hold the pose and take slow, deep breaths.
- Rise with an inhale, then exhale and release your arms.
Alignment cues
- Keep knees behind toes
- Tuck the tailbone under
- Draw shoulders away from ears
- Keep body weight in heels
- Bring torso toward upright
Avoid this pose if you have low blood pressure.
More yoga poses to discover
Chair (Utkatasana in Sanskrit) is a beginner yoga pose that belongs to the standing category. This asana targets chest, glutes & hip flexors, hamstrings, quadriceps and shoulders, and also involves abs, ankles, triceps and upper back & lower traps muscles. Chair massages heart; strengthens legs, stretches shoulders and chest and also brings vitality. Refer to the illustration and instructions above for how to perform this posture correctly. Discover more yoga asanas and yogic breathing exercises in our free yoga pose directory – a visual resource for yoga teacher training students as well as practitioners of all levels. Finally, shop our best-selling Yoga Cards products!
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