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{{short description|Standing balancing posture in yoga as exercise}}
[[File:Utthita-Hasta-Padangusthasana Yoga-Asana Nina-Mel.jpg|thumb|Utthita Padangusthasana I]]
[[File:Yoga (9704390405).jpg|thumb|Utthita Padangusthasana II]]

'''Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana''' ({{Langx|sa|उत्थित हस्त पादाङ्गुष्ठासन}}, {{IAST-hi1|Utthita Hasta Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana}}), '''Standing Big Toe Hold''' or '''Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose''' is a [[standing asanas|standing]] balancing [[asana]] in modern [[yoga as exercise]].

==Etymology and origins==

The name comes from the Sanskrit words {{lang|sa-Latn|Utthita}} ({{lang|sa|उत्थित}}) meaning "extended", {{lang|sa-Latn|Hasta}} ({{lang|sa|हस्त}}) meaning "hand", {{lang|sa-Latn|Pada}} ({{lang|sa|पद}}) meaning "foot", {{lang|sa-Latn|Angustha}} ({{lang|sa|ङ्गुष्ठ}}) meaning "thumb" or "toe", and {{lang|sa-Latn|Asana}} ({{lang|sa|आसन}}) meaning "posture" or "seat".{{sfn|Mehta|1990|p=20}}
<nowiki>{{efn|The name "Padangusthasana" (without "Utthita") is used with a different meaning in Bikram Yoga. "Toe Stand Pose" is number 12 in </nowiki>[[Postures of Bikram Yoga|its asana sequence]]; it is a squatting pose with one leg lightly crossed over the standing leg, which is bent so that the buttocks approach or rest on the heel; despite the etymology there is no contact between hand and foot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bikramyogaposesguide.com |title=26 Bikram Yoga Poses |publisher=www.bikramyogaposesguide.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Vivek |first=Singh |date=27 September 2025 |title=The 26 Poses of Bikram Yoga |url=https://www.bikramyogaposesguide.com/ |accessdate=20 November 2019 |publisher=DoYouYoga }}</ref>

The pose however does not appear to be Indian in origin, and it is not found in the medieval [[hatha yoga]] texts. A similar pose was described in [[Niels Bukh]]'s early 20th century Danish text ''Primitive Gymnastics'', which in turn was derived from a 19th century Scandinavian tradition of gymnastics. The pose had arrived in India by the 1920s. [[Swami Kuvalayananda]] incorporated it into his system of exercises, from where it was taken up by the influential yoga teacher [[Tirumalai Krishnamacharya]].<ref name="Singleton 2011">{{cite web |last1=Singleton |first1=Mark |author-link=Mark Singleton (yoga teacher) |title=The Ancient & Modern Roots of Yoga |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/yoga-s-greater-truth |publisher=[[Yoga Journal]] |date=4 February 2011}}</ref>

==Description==

Utthita Padangusthasana is a pose with the body standing straight, on one leg; the other leg is stretched out straight, and the foot of the raised leg is grasped by the hand on the same side of the body. It is entered from the standing pose [[Tadasana]].{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|pp=76-78}} The pose has two forms: I, with the raised leg to the front, and the opposite hand to the hip; II, with the raised leg to the side, and the opposite hand stretched out straight to the other side.{{sfn|Mehta|1990|p=20}}{{sfn|Saraswati|1996|pp=300-302}}<ref name="YJ 2007">{{cite news |author=Anon |title=Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/extended-hand-to-big-toe-pose |newspaper=[[Yoga Journal]] |date=28 August 2007}}</ref> Students can practise the pose using a strap to hold the extended foot, or a ledge or wall for support;{{sfn|Mehta|1990|p=20}}<ref name="YJ 2016">{{cite web |last1=Maze |first1=Noah |title=3 Ways to Modify Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/modify-extended-hand-big-toe-pose |publisher=[[Yoga Journal]] |date=1 August 2016}}</ref> or may keep the knee bent.<ref name="YP">{{cite web |title=Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana |url=https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/6540/utthita-hasta-padangusthasana |publisher=Yogapedia |access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref> The pose is at the start of the Primary Series of [[Ashtanga (vinyasa) yoga]].<ref name="AY">{{cite web |title=Primary Series of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga |url=https://www.ashtangayoga.info/practice/primary-series-yoga-chikitsa/item/utthita-hasta-padangushthasana/ |publisher=Ashtanga Yoga |access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref>

==Variations==

[[File:Bird of Paradise Pose (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Svarga Dvijasana (Bird of Paradise pose) is a bound variant of Utthita Padangusthasana II.]]

Utthita Ekapadasana is a milder form of the same pose, the leg not lifted far enough for the toes to be grasped.

Utthita Parshvasahita has the raised leg out to the side and the head turned away from the raised leg.

Svarga Dvijasana (Bird of Paradise pose) has the raised leg out to the side, the hands clasped under the thigh with the arm on the raised leg side in front, the other arm behind.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bird of Paradise: 5 Steps to Master this Standing Pose |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/bird-of-paradise-5-steps-to-master-this-standing-pose |website=[[Yoga Journal]] |date=12 April 2017 |orig-year=2014}}</ref>

== Notes ==

{{notelist}}

== References ==

{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==

* {{cite book | last=Iyengar | first=B. K. S. |author-link=B. K. S. Iyengar | year=1979 | orig-year=1966 | title=[[Light on Yoga|Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika]] | publisher=Unwin Paperbacks }}
* {{cite book |last1=Mehta |first1=Silva; Mehta, Mira; Mehta, Shyam |date=1990 |title=[[Yoga: The Iyengar Way]] |publisher=Dorling Kindersley }}
* {{cite book |first=Swami Satyananda |last=Saraswati |author-link=Swami Satyananda Saraswati |title=Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha |url=http://www.znakovi-vremena.net/en/Swami-Satyananda-Saraswati---Asana-Pranayama-Mudra-Bandha.pdf |publisher=Yoga Publications Trust |year=1996 |isbn=978-81-86336-14-4 }}

{{Asanas}}
{{Yoga as exercise}}

[[Category:One-legged asanas]]

Utthita Padangusthasana - Revision history

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