Category: Seated
Level: advanced
Hold: 5–8 breaths per side
Type: Asana
Breath: Inhale to lengthen, exhale to fold

Half-Bound-Lotus Seated Forward Fold

Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana — "half-bound lotus intense west stretch"

A forward fold with one leg in half lotus and the same-side arm wrapped behind the back to bind the foot. This is an advanced Ashtanga pose that demands genuinely open hips — build it in stages and never crank the knee.

Step by step

1From Staff Pose, cradle your right shin and — moving from the hip, not the knee — place the top of your right foot high on your left thigh in half lotus.
2Only continue if your right knee rests down without pain.
3Reach your right arm behind your back and, if it comes easily, take hold of your right foot or big toe.
4Inhale and lengthen your spine over the straight left leg.
5Exhale and fold forward, reaching your left hand to your left foot.
6Keep both sides of your waist long; don't collapse toward the lotus side.
7Rise on an inhale, release the bind and the lotus leg carefully, and change sides.

Benefits

✓ Deeply opens the hip of the lotus leg
✓ Stretches the hamstrings of the extended leg
✓ Opens the shoulder and chest of the binding arm
✓ Develops the external rotation needed for full Lotus

Make it yours

· Practice with the foot at the inner thigh (Head-to-Knee shape) until half lotus is comfortable upright.
· Hold a strap between the binding hand and the lotus foot instead of forcing the wrap.
· Sit on a folded blanket and keep the fold shallow, hands on the shin.

Take care

Skip the lotus position entirely if your knee feels any pinching or strain — work in Head-to-Knee Pose instead.
Leave out the bind if your shoulder resists; the fold is the same pose without it.

This is general practice guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts, ease out of it.

Practiced in

Ashtanga — as “Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana” (#31)

Props that help here

Cork blocks (set of 2) — Bring the floor closer in lunges, folds, and triangle — and a block between the shoulder blades turns a backbend into something you can hold. find one
8-foot cotton strap — Extends your reach in hamstring and shoulder work — the honest substitute for grabbing a foot you can't yet reach. Get 8ft, not 6ft. find one

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