Forward fold

Let’s start with the ominous “toe-touch-pose” because this is the asana most non-flexible people are most afraid of.

In English we call this yoga pose “standing forward bend” or “forward fold”. If you happen to take Yoga classes where the teacher uses Sanskrit, you might hear the name “Uttanasana” instead.

“Uttana” means something like “strong stretch” and “asana” means “pose”. “Strong stretch pose”, basically.

So, no toe touching in the name. Can you guess why?

The goal of the forward bend isn’t actually to touch the floor. It is to stretch the back of your legs, the hamstrings, while keeping your lower back safe.

And you can do that even if you’re not that flexible yet. Heck, especially when you’re not that flexible yet!

How to practice forward fold

If you have blood pressure issues, eye issues, or back injuries skip this pose!

To start out, stand up straight, with your feet parallel and about hip-width apart.

Then, slowly bend forward from the hip until you feel a stretch in the back of your legs. Your upper body stays nice and long.

When you do this, two things are extremely important:

  1. Make sure your lower back doesn’t round! You can do this by either looking in a mirror or by putting a hand there. If it rounds, stop and go back up a little!
Image of a woman bending forward with a rounded lower back, a red X marking this as wrong. Next to it another image of a woman bending forward with a straight back, a green checkmark marking this as correct

I cannot stress enough how important it is that you don’t let your lower back round out. If you do, you put a lot of pressure on the discs between your vertebrae. You really don’t want to damage those! It’s painful and practically impossible to repair.

  1. You want to feel the stretch in the “heart” of your muscles. So in the middle of your upper leg, or in the middle of your calves. If you feel it behind your knees, or close to the sit bones or ankles, back up a little bit.
Image of a woman bending forward, green arrows showing where to feel the stretch ( in the middle of the back upper leg, and in the middle of the back lower leg), red arrows showing where to not feel the stretch (at the ankles, behind the knee and at the hip joint)

This matters, because you want to stretch the muscles, not the tendons. The tendons are what connects your muscles to the bones, and those should stay nice and stable!

Modify the pose to work for your body

Now, if you’re just starting out, you might not get very far. This is absolutely fine! Remember, it’s not about the looks, it’s about feeling the stretch in the right place.

To make yourself able to hold this pose for a few breaths, you have three options:

  1. Put your hands on your legs for support
  2. Have a chair, a table, a couch, or yoga blocks handy to support you in the pose
  3. bend your knees slightly
Image of a woman doing three easier versions of the yoga pose forward fold for inflexible people_ one with the hands on the legs, one with hand on yoga blocks and one with arms leaning on the back of a chair

Now you can use your breathing to maybe gently guide you deeper into the pose: 

  • When breathing in, firm up your leg muscles. You can imagine pulling up your knee caps while pressing your feet strongly into the floor. 
  • When breathing out, relax the back of your legs and see if your hips can bend forward a tiny little more. (Again, use awareness to make sure your lower back stays straight and you feel the stretch in the right places!)

Hold the pose for a few breaths or as long as it feels comfortable.

Then, to come out, make your leg muscles really strong and use your lower belly muscles to pull you back up to standing.

Hold this pose daily for 10 breaths and you’ll be amazed how much closer to the floor you’ll be in no time!

(If you don’t do any other pose, do this one! Stretching your hamstring is essential for inflexible people!)

Go to the 2nd pose!
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