The Health Benefits of Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)

By CNY Healing Arts Published on

bound angle poseCNY Healing Arts Center is presenting you with a series of yoga poses to help boost your health and well-being. Bound angle pose, also known as baddha konasana, is a therapeutic hip and groin opener that can also help boost your fertility.

Getting into Baddha Konasana:
Sit with your legs straight out in front of you. Raise your pelvis with a block or a blanket if your hips are tight. Bend your knees and pull your feet towards as close towards your pelvis as you can, with the soles of the feet touching each other. Drop your knees towards the floor and push the feet together.  With your index and middle finger and thumb grab the big toes of each foot. Lengthen through the front of the torso to the sternum as you pull your body down towards the floor.

The aim of the posture is to get your knees on the floor and your head in front of your feet with your torso flat over your legs. There is no need for this to happen overnight; you will get benefits from every stage of this pose. As you fold forward in this posture, lead with the heart until you reach the edge of your flexibility then let the back round and drop the head. Never force your knees down. Instead release the heads of the thighbones toward the floor. When this action leads, the knees follow. Stay in baddha konasana for 1 to 5 minutes or at least 20 breaths, breathing constantly in and through the nose and you gently release into the pose.

The Benefits of Baddha Konasana:

  • Strengthens and improves flexibility in the inner thighs, groins and the knees
  • Helps prepare the hips and groins for meditative seated poses, which require more flexibility in these areas
  • Helps to sooth menstrual discomfort and digestive complaints
  • Stimulates the abdominal organs, potentially improving the health of the ovaries, prostate gland, kidneys and bladder.
  • Alleviates fatigue, according to traditional yoga texts
  • Helps open up the lower back and relieves sciatica
  • Metaphysically opens up the groin area helping to relieve sexual inhibitions and guilt.

We have full yoga class schedules at all of our CNY Healing Arts Center locations. Click here to view them and we hope to see you soon!