Open Your Heart and Sit into Strength: Utkatasana, Chair Pose by Chris Loebsack

Utkatasana Fierce Pose aka Chair Pose - Beginner Standing Back Bendoot-KAH-TAAHS-uh-nuh
Utkaṭa (उत्कट) = Wild, Intense, Fierce 
Asana (आसन) = Pose, Posture, Seat
(www.wisdomlib.org)
This posture features a standing high squat with a lifted spine as if one were trying to sit into a chair. The pose is often referred to as chair pose, but it’s translation from Sanskrit (the indian language of yoga) means fierce pose. For anyone who has ever tried this pose and held it even for a little while, you would know why it is called fierce. The pose offers incredible potential to build strength in the legs, thighs, hips, spine and the back of the shoulder. 
Utkatasana is an incredible power pose. It can build energy in the physical body and confidence in the emotional body.

Model: Educator Katy Case

How to do Utkatasana

1. Begin in mountain pose (Tadasana). You may have the feet together (greater challenge and smaller base of support) or hip distance apart (easier to balance and often feels more comfortable in the joints of the knees and hips) 
   
2. Bend your knees and track the knees over the toes. Lower the hips as if you are hovering above the seat of a chair. 
   
3. Reach your arms up overhead and along the side of your ears. The spine remains upright (this will require a strong engagement of the back muscles)
   
4. Engage the pelvic floor and the belly (mula bandha and uddiyana bandha).
   
5. Maintain the length of the spine and hold the pose for 5-10 deep breaths. ​
   

Photo: Educator Brian M. Davis

Benefits

• Stretches the front of the torso, and the lats. 
  
• Improves balance.
  
• Strengthens the legs, thighs, outer hips, core, and pelvic floor.
  
• Improves circulation. 
  
• Builds heat in the body.
  
• Stimulates the first chakra aka root chakra (muladhara)and the 4th chakra aka heart chakra (anahata).
  

Common pitfalls and contraindications

• When the feet are together there may be a tendency to overly squeeze the inner thighs and get a grinding sensation on the inner knees. While the inner knees may touch we are not trying to force them together. 
  
• If the stance of the feet is wider apart, the knees will not touch. 
  
• There is a tendency to lean the chest forward. To increase the work on the thighs and strengthen the back keep the chest lifted as you sit into the posture. 
  

Preparatory posesMountain Pose (Tadasana)
References
Utkatasana. www.ashtangayoga.info, Retrieved 6 August 2020.
Kona www.wisdomlib.org Retrieved 4 August 2020Swenson, D. (1999) Ashtanga Yoga, the Practice Manual. (6th Edition) (Woodruff, C, Ed.). Houston, TX, United States of America. Ashtanga Yoga Productions.
About Chris Loebsack

• ​Chris Loebsack, 500 E.R.Y.T,  fell in love with yoga in 1995 and began teaching in 2003. Chris uses the power of yoga to create a space for students that cultivates trust, playfulness and Divine connection with themselves and with community. Living by her mantra, Clarity, Integrity and Love, she draws upon her partner yoga practice to share the healing power of touch and safe intimacy. A passion for discovering subtlety in movement has lead Chris to deepen her education with the Anatomy Studies for Yoga Teachers® kinesiology program. Her playful yet focused classes are filled with user friendly gems of applied anatomy leaving students with a greater understanding of how to find comfort and space in their bodies and smiles beaming across their faces. She encourages teachers to set a higher standard of excellence through knowledge and has become a valuable mentor to many upcoming yoga educators. 
  Chris's Teaching Schedule​