10/12/2025
✨ Geetaji's Uttanasana Pincer Action Guidance
Geetaji's approach to internal action and anatomical alignment, as demonstrated through her guidance for Uttanasana, is guided by several fundamental principles that focus on muscular engagement, deep internal integration, precise foundational setup, and directional elongation.
The fundamental principles that guide this unique approach include:
1️⃣ The Principle of "Pincer Action" and Internal Integration
A core principle is the "pincer action," which involves specific internal muscular and structural engagement. This action is described as contracting the outer thighs and moving the skin, flesh, and bone toward the inner edges. The goal of this action is the deep integration of the structure, resulting in the bones going deeper into the body. The legs, knees, and thighs are directed to stay firmly together.
2️⃣ Precise Foundational Alignment and Stability
Geetaji’s guidance places high importance on the setup of the foundation to ensure stability and proper extension. This involves:
- Integrated Feet: Standing with feet together, toes together, and adjusting so the bottoms of the feet are open and all toes are extended from the base.
- Targeted Contact: Ensuring the big toes press together, which creates a sensation of firmness.
- Stability Through Inward Focus: If wobbling occurs, the instructions direct the practitioner to focus on bringing the inner legs, knees, and thighs closer together from the outer edges, learning balance by keeping the feet together.
3️⃣ Directional Extension and Rotational Alignment
The practice involves simultaneous and opposing extensions to create length and stability throughout the body:
- Upward Extension: A sharp stretch must be created at the inner edges of the thighs near the root, stretching upward.
- Rotational Alignment: To achieve proper extension, the practitioner must roll the outer thighs from the front of the body to the back of the thigh, ensuring the side edge of each thigh rolls back and meets the back edge.
- Downward Extension: The sides of the trunk should extend further downwards, and the sides of the neck and the crown of the head should elongate toward the ground.
4️⃣ Sharp Awareness and Internal Action
The approach is defined by an emphasis on internal actions and focused intention, moving beyond mere physical positioning. Practitioners are instructed to focus not just on bringing the feet physically together but on sharp awareness at the inner edges. This focus on internal awareness and specific internal contraction (like the pincer action) differentiates the practice by linking physical posture with deep bodily consciousness.
✨ Geetaji's methodology combines these principles—like a master sculptor carving from the inside out—where precise external alignment (feet placement, rotational cues) is used to facilitate deep, sustained internal integration (pincer action, root stretch), resulting in a unified and elongated structure
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👉 Try this version of Uttanasana and tell us what you felt.
