Julie Gudmestad: Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend – Open Inner Thighs Safely

Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend stretches your inner thighs (adductors) and hamstrings while lengthening your spine—yet the wide-legged position makes it particularly easy to collapse forward with a rounded back rather than hinging from your hips. This tutorial teaches you how to use props and proper technique to make Upavistha Konasana genuinely therapeutic.

In this practice, Julie Gudmestad brings her physical therapy expertise to this challenging hip opener. You'll begin by addressing the most common obstacle: tight hamstrings and adductors that tilt your pelvis backward and make it impossible to sit upright with legs wide.

The tutorial demonstrates using a folded blanket under your sitting bones—essential for most practitioners—to allow your pelvis to tip forward into a more neutral position. Julie covers proper leg position: wide enough to feel stretch in your inner thighs but not so wide that your knees roll inward, with toes and kneecaps pointing toward the ceiling.

You'll learn to engage your quadriceps to protect your knees, the essential principle of lengthening your spine before any forward movement, and how to walk your hands forward gradually while maintaining that length. The tutorial includes modifications like keeping your torso upright (no forward fold) if that's where your body is today, and using blocks under your hands if the floor feels far away.

This tutorial is perfect for anyone working on inner thigh flexibility, those who tend to round their back in forward folds, or practitioners learning that less depth with proper form beats more depth with compromised alignment. The blanket-supported setup makes this pose accessible and safe.

Led by Julie Gudmestad, whose therapeutic approach ensures you're opening your inner thighs without straining your back or knees.