HEALTH: A hamstring stretch that's safe for your back

Take a load off


Yoga
Lee Kennedy

Supta Padangusthasana, or reclining big toe pose, is an excellent way to develop flexibility in your hamstring muscles and the backs of your legs without straining your back, as your back is supported and kept straight by the floor. It also improves digestion, stimulates the prostate gland and is therapeutic for backache, sciatica, menstrual discomfort, high blood pressure, flat feet and infertility. If you do have high blood pressure, raise your head and neck on a folded blanket.
This pose should be avoided if you are suffering from headache or diarrhoea.

Supta Padangusthasana
>   Lie supine on the floor, legs strongly extended. If your head doesn’t rest comfortably on the floor, support it on a folded blanket. Exhale, bend the left knee and draw the thigh into your torso. Hug the thigh to your belly. Press the right thigh heavily to the floor, and push actively through the right heel.
>  Loop a strap around the arch of the left foot and hold the strap in both hands. Inhale and straighten the knee, pressing the left heel up toward the ceiling. Walk your hands up the strap until your elbows are fully extended.
>  Broaden the shoulder blades across your back. Keeping the hands as high on the strap as possible, press the shoulder blades lightly into the floor. Widen the collarbones away from the sternum.
>  Extend up through the back of the left heel and lift through the ball of the big toe.
>  Begin with the raised leg perpendicular to the floor. Release the head of the thigh bone more deeply into the pelvis and, as you do, draw the foot a little closer to your head, increasing the stretch on the back of the leg.
>  Hold the vertical position of the leg anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. Repeat on the right for the same length of time.

This article is not a recommendation for your own practice but serves as interesting reading and encouragement for anyone thinking of going to a yoga class. As with any form of physical exercise, please consult your family doctor beforehand.