Honor Your Unique Body With Three Versions of Hand-to-Big-Toe-Pose

Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana) is a challenging standing balance that strengthens the lower body and core muscles. This pose also improves posture by strengthening the muscles along the spine that help us stand upright while gently encouraging the chest to open. It also strengthens the muscles responsible for balancing, improving overall balance. The three versions of Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose outlined below may help you explore these benefits.

Balance poses are challenging for many because they ask our bodies to balance on one leg without support. Most people don’t practice this daily, meaning most balance poses are out of their comfort zones.

In addition, Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana creates tension between active hip flexion on the leg extended in front and the need to neutrally extend the hip of the standing leg. The glutes, hamstrings, calf, and soleus muscles of the front leg must stretch quite a bit while the psoas, quads, and adductor muscles of the standing leg are firing. Many people have tight hamstrings, so these two actions can create a problematic combination.

Utilize Yoga Props And Honor Your Body With These 3 Different Variations Of Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose

The props used in the three versions of the Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose below are meant to minimize the challenges identified above so you can practice this yoga pose at your current level of strength and mobility.

Before You Begin, Warm Up Your Hamstrings and Hip Extensors

Before moving into Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose, it’s essential to warm up your body correctly.

Whenever you stretch a muscle, it’s wise first to engage that same muscle and start to fatigue it. Once a muscle is warm and tired, it’ll be more ready to lengthen.

Because the Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose stretches the hamstrings and other hip extensors, warm up these muscles with this slightly unconventional warm-up.

1. Start standing at the wall. If you’d like, place your hand on the wall for support.
2. Next, shift your weight to the leg closest to the wall.
3. Then, start bringing your other leg back behind you without disturbing the orientation of your pelvis. The pelvis’s natural tendency is to spill forward, so hug your belly toward your spine and lift the front of your hips up to resist this tendency.

Note: This is not a big movement. Push your heel back, extending through your leg. Although small, this exercise is a very controlled movement and will start to heat your hamstrings, other hip extensors, and the muscles in the standing leg. Practice this five or so times on each side.

Now, here are three versions of the Hand-To-Big-Toe Pose:

Yoga Pose Modification 1: Seated Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Sanskrit Name: Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana)

This first variation of the Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose is practiced in a folding chair (or similar stationary seat ). This version removes the balancing component from this pose, allowing you to focus on lengthening the hamstrings of your extended leg. It may be surprising, but this pose will still strengthen your core and upper back muscles to help you stand taller with better posture!

1. Start by sitting down on the seat of a folding chair. You may want to place a folded blanket under your hips for support. Usually, you don’t want to sit back in the chair because this often encourages slouching, creating a tilt in your pelvis.  So, sit forward enough to maintain an erect posture. Wherever you are on your chair seat, ensure you can sit on your sit-bones without tucking your pelvis under you.
2. Lengthen your spine. Pull your shoulders back and stack them over your hips. Lift your ribcage up away from your hips.  Lift one knee toward your chest. Loop a yoga strap around the bottom of your foot.
3. Hold the strap in one hand and maintain the length of your spine as you extend your leg in front of you. Pick a height for your leg that you can maintain without compensating in your spine or hips by slouching or tucking. It doesn’t matter how high the leg is. Look for a moderate amount of stretch in the back of your leg.
4. Gently pull on your strap and draw your elbow down by your waist. This action will help engage the muscles in your upper back, which will, in turn, improve your posture. Hold this pose at your edge for several breaths.
5. When you’re ready, gently lower your leg back to the ground.
6. Repeat on the second side.

Option: For the seated version of this pose, if you have tight hamstrings, it may have felt like a lot of muscular effort in your upper body to just hold the weight of your leg out in front of you. If this is the case, place your foot up on a block or two, depending on your hamstring flexibility.

If one block doesn’t deliver any sensation, try placing one block at the highest height on top of another block at the short height. Use your hands behind your thigh to help lift your leg onto the block. That way, you won’t strain to hold your leg off the ground. This version will net the same stretch in your hamstrings without strain in your upper body.

Yoga Pose Modification 2: Standing Balance

For this version of Standing Hand-to-Big-Toe, you’ll need a chair and a strap again, but you’ll be standing up this time. If you’re still working on balance and know you’ll want some support, you can practice this version near a wall.

1. Place your yoga mat and chair parallel to a nearby wall. For comfort, you may wish to place a folded blanket on the seat of your chair. Have your yoga strap handy.
2. Shift your weight to the foot closest to the wall. Make a loop with your strap and place it around your other foot.
3. Lift the foot with the loop around it onto the chair, so your heel is resting on the blanket. If you’re using the wall for support, you can take the strap into one hand, while placing your other hand on the wall for balance. Pull gently on the strap in order to engage your upper back muscles, draw your shoulders back, and find an elongated spine.
4. Press your extended leg’s hip down toward the ground as it tends to lift up toward your shoulder.
5. Press down into your standing foot and lift up through your hips, your torso, and all the way up through the top of your head. Create length all the way up your body.
6. Hold for several breaths before lifting your leg off the chair seat.
7. Repeat on the second side.

Yoga Pose Modification 3: Hamstring Lengthening

If you have more flexible hamstrings and want a little bit more of a stretch, you can use all the same props to increase the sensation.

1. Follow the exact instructions as the previous variation, but place a folded blanket on the back of the chair for comfort.
2. Then, place your foot on the blanket at this higher height.

Which Version Should You Pick?

One way to know which version to choose is to go higher without rounding your lower back. In most forward bends it’s beneficial to maintain a neutral pelvis.

Choose the best one for your body from these three versions of Hand-to-Big-Toe-Pose. Be sure to notice that the two sides of your body will feel slightly different. Check in with each side, see how your hamstrings feel today, and choose the height that works best for you.