Urdhva Dhanurasana

Urdhva Danurasana creates a back bend with the shoulders fully flexed over the head. This differs from Danurasana (bow pose), in which the shoulders extend back away from the torso. This means that other muscle groups are working and stretching, especially around the shoulders.

Anatomy

In urdhva dhanurasana the direction of the shoulders shifts to a position of forward or frontal flexion (compared with the previous poses in this series, which extend the shoulders away from the back). Thus the shoulder stretch changes in this pose: the muscles that extend the arms are now lengthening. The arch of the torso is raised higher, taking the front of the body into a deeper stretch. The muscles at the front of the pelvis lengthen more because the hips are in greater extension. Firmly extending the elbows and the knees creates subplots to the main story of this pose, deepening it. The hands and feet are fixed to the mat, so the energy of straightening the arms and legs is transferred to the trunk, indirectly extending the back and hips and stretching the front of the body.  

BASIC JOINT POSITIONS 

• The shoulders flex and abduct. 
• The elbows extend. 
• The forearms pronate. 
• The wrists extend. 
• The hips extend, internally rotate, and adduct. 
• The knees extend. 
• The feet pronate. 
• The trunk extends.