Paschimottanasna
(Forward bend yoga pose)
The word Paschimottanasna is derived from Sanskrit.Paschim means western,Ottan or uttan means intense stretch,Asana means pose.
Hence, the pose means a western intense stretch pose. The pose isn’t a western stretch. The term western here means the back. This pose gives an intense stretch to your back or spine. Paschimottanasna was first recorded in the second chapter of the Gheranda Samhita, one of the three classic texts of Hatha yoga. This pose is commonly used in Hatha and vinyasa yoga.
The increasing technology causes various health problems. One of the most common problems that everyone faces is body posture. Long hours of sitting and focusing in front of your laptops or computer system cause stiffness in your back, neck, and spine.
This pose could be beneficial in reducing stiffness and tension from your back, spine, neck, and shoulder. Paschimottanasna should be practiced for at least 2 minutes to 5 minutes. This pose has tremendous health benefits. It helps strengthen and lengthen your spine thus helping in increasing height in children. This pose is great for those who are suffering from high or low blood pressure. This pose not only stretches your spine but gives a good stretch to your whole body. It stretches your thighs, hips, spine, calves, shoulder, arms, and hamstrings. This poses massage your abdomen and strengthens it. This pose strengthens your Agni i.e. digestive fire and creates a state of inner calm. It will rejuvenate your skin and makes you look younger.
 Forward Bend provides a good stretch to your groin and inner thighs while strengthening your back. This pose also develops flexibility in your hips and knees, as well as stimulates your abdominal organs, which can help aid digestion. Performing this pose can also soothe your nervous system, which helps clear and calm your mind.
As you bend forward in this pose, you should focus on lowering your abdomen and chest, rather than your forehead. Keep in mind that lengthening your spine is more important than trying to bend forward as far as possible. After performing easy Pose Forward Bend, you should shake out your legs to help relieve your knees and ankles.
If your hips are stiff or your knees feel strained in this pose, sitting on thickly folded blankets may make the pose more comfortable. Sitting on blankets can also help prevent your lower back from rounding.
Benefits:

• Flexibility: This pose will improve flexibility in an individual. Paschimottanasna stretches your spine, buttock, thighs, shoulders, hands, and calves. The stretch thus increases flexibility in your spine.
• Blood circulation: This pose increases the oxygen-carrying blood flow to our body. It will balance the flow of rich blood and help us to detoxify our bodies.
• Tone up: This pose stretches out your body and helps you to tone your body. It stretches your whole body and thus helps you to tone it.
• Nervous system: This pose will increase the oxygen-carrying blood in your nervous system and improve the overall health of the system.
• Reduce stress: This pose will enhance your mood and hence results in reducing stress. This is a great pose that will help you in reducing stress and anxiety by increasing the oxygen-carrying blood flow in your body.
• Abdomen health: Practicing this pose will help you in improving your abdomen health. This pose will massage your abdomen and hence increase the health of your abdomen.
• Stretches and strengthens muscles: This pose provides a good stretch to your muscles. The stretch will strengthen the muscles of your body. Hence this pose will result in the strengthening of your muscles.
• Reduce fat: Practicing forward bend will help you in reducing your body fat. The abdomen stretch results in reducing the abdomen.
• Beneficial for liver and kidney: The pose massages your liver and kidney and improves the overall health of your liver and kidney along with other organs.
• Digestive system: This pose will pressurize your digestive system and then release it. This process will result in improving your digestive system. It reduces bloating and gases and strengthens the digestive system.
• Menstrual cycle: This pose helps in regulating your menstrual cycle. It reduces menstrual cramps and helps you in relieving menstrual discomfort.
• Underweight: This pose could be beneficial in dealing with the problem of being underweight. This is a great pose that will help you to improve your metabolism and hence deal with the problem of being underweight.
• Helps to treat insomnia: This pose could be a great help in treating insomnia. This is a great pose that can help you to treat insomnia.
• Cure blood pressure: This pose helps you in curing blood pressure. It maintains the blood flow in your body and hence improves the blood flow.
• Sexual diseases: Practicing this pose will improve the health of your pelvic tilt and abdomen. hence improving the sexual health of an individual. This pose will enhance sexual strength.
• Diabetes: This pose massages your pancreas and thus forces the endocrine gland to release insulin and prevent and manage diabetes.

Technique:
Step 1: Sit on the floor with your legs spread outside.
Step 2: Keep your spine straight and your toes flexed towards you.
Step 3: Breath in and stretch your both arms toward your toes and exhale.
Step 4: Hold your toes with your palms and bend your head closest to the knee. Do not force touch the knee. Bend as much as possible.
Step 5: Hold to this pose for at least 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do not force your breathing pattern, this may cause severe injury.
Step 6: Relax and get back to the initial position.
Step 7: practice this pose at least 5 to 10 times.
Precautions:

• Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from spinal injury or spinal pain.
• Do not practice this pose in case of neck injury.
• This pose is prohibited in case of spinal surgery.
• Do not practice this pose if you have just recovered from surgery.
• Avoid practicing the pose if you are suffering from any kind of hips, thighs, ankle. Neck, shoulder injury.
• Practicing the pose is prohibited in case of a hernia. This pose will worsen your situation.
• Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from vertigo. This will increase the spinning experience in an individual, thus worsening the condition.
• Consult your doctor before practicing this pose if you have back pain.
• This pose is prohibited if you are suffering from slipped disc issue.
• Do not practice the pose if you are suffering from spondylitis.
• This pose is prohibited during pregnancy.
• Consult your yoga instructor if you are suffering from diarrhea before practicing the pose.
• You must ensure proper precautions if you are suffering from asthma. Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from an abdominal ulcer. This pose will worsen the situation.

 Props:

• Use a blanket to support your buttocks if you can’t sit on the floor.
• You can place a pillow under your head to support yourself if you can’t touch the knee.
• Support yourself against a wall to avoid any injury.
• Use yoga bricks to support your head.
• If you can’t touch the toes, use bands to stretch your body.

Modification:
f you find this pose difficult you can practice the easy forward bend pose as a modified version of Paschimottanasna. Technique for practicing the Easy forward bend pose:

• Begin in Easy Pose.
• Press your sitting bones into the floor and point the crown of your head toward the ceiling to lengthen your spine.
• Place your palms on the floor in front of you.
• Spread your fingers out, with your middle fingers pointing forward.
• Exhale as you bend forward from your hips and slide your hands forward along the floor.
• Keep your back straight as long as possible and then relax your shoulder and head forward.
• Hold the pose for 15 to 30 seconds and then inhale as you slowly curl up to return to Easy Pose.
• Repeat steps 1 to 7 placing the opposite leg on top in step 1.