Standing Splits

Benefits:
  • Improves balance
  • Develops body awareness
  • Strengthens the feet, ankles, knees and hips
  • Stretches the hamstrings and inner thigh
Cues:
  • Start in a high lunge
  • Feel strongly into the four corners of the right foot
  • On an inhale start to lean forward with your upper body and gently push off the toes of your left foot bringing your foot off of the ground
  • On an exhale start to fold forward at the hips bringing the fingers down towards the ground while bringing your left foot higher off the ground behind you
  • Allow the neck to relax and the head to hang
  • Bring the back leg towards straight and possibly into a more vertical position dependent on your ROM
  • You can keep your hands on the floor you can bring one hand or both hands off the floor wrapping them around your right calf
Common Errors:
  • Alignment of the standing knee
  • Hips are stacked
  • Tension is held in the neck
Modifications:
  • To lessen the intensity of the pose you can:
    • Place your hands on blocks rather than the ground
    • Place your elevated foot on a wall
  • To increase the intensity you can:
    • Hold onto the back of the calves of the standing leg
Cautions:
  • Pain in the:
    • Feet
    • Ankles
    • Knees
    • Hips
    • Low back
  • Dizzy or light headedness
  • High blood pressure
Alternative Poses: