Utkatasana is also known as the “awkward pose”
I’ve never really understood why because…it isn’t that awkward. I find a lot of the other positions in yoga to be significantly more awkward than this one! But whatever the reasoning – that’s the name.
I think this position is one of my favourite because it makes me burnt he most. After a few seconds I’m dripping sweat and I feel as though I’ve gone for a lengthy run because my legs get so sore. Utkatasana is very challenging, therefore extremely strengthening for the body. People that do not frequently do any kind of physical activity geared towards leg strengthening are going to find it very difficult – so please take it slow.
There are a lot of points to remember with this position:
Keep your bum back
Your knees should NOT pass your toes
Keep your shoulders secured in their sockets
Chin up
Abs in
Keep your arm muscles tight
Knees apart!
and surprise surprise: keep your breath going!!
To begin:
Stand with your feet slightly apart (don’t make them into a V), and raise your hands right in front of you making them parallel to the ground. Your palms should be facing the floor and knuckles to the ceiling. Tense your muscles but make sure this doesn’t make your shoulders pop out of their socket, because that will be a natural reaction!
Now that you have the top of your body set up, next, slowly start raising your feet in the air so that you are on your tippy toes. ( it hurts at first because your toes are not used to carrying your body weight – but i promise you, it’s worth the pain so just try your best to stick with it!)
Now that you’re in this most pleasant position …lets make it worse : ) Slowly start to lower your bum as though you’re going into a squat; similar to the rules of a squat: keep your back straight as though you are slowly making your way into a squatting position against a wall, make sure your chin is up, and your KNEES ARE NOT PASSING YOUR TOES! That’s very bad for them and can severely injure you. (PLUS. it’s not the right way to do it so if you’re going to put yourself through the torture, at least make it worth it ! )
So slowly lower yourself into a squat – with your toes raised – and breathe.
Count to 10 very slowly. (yes. VERY) and then start coming up very slowly.
Do this a total of 3 times, and then rest your arms but letting them hang over your head with bend elbows – Man it feels sooooooooo gooood once you get to release the tension.
But honestly, even though this position is absolute agony, it works out your legs like you CANNOT imagine! It increases the circulation of blood throughout your body and eventually takes away feet pain. I have extremely flat feet and when i started off practicing this position i felt like hell had come knocking on my door because it made my feet very tense and I just felt like I would fall over. But the good news is, overtime the pains started decreasing and even though I don’t believe it’ll ever be as easy for me to do as it is for other people, at least it helped me with my problem a little bit!
NOW I can wear my sexy strappy sandals and heel boots for longer!
* this is how my studio has taught me to practice utkatasana; however, in many cases you are supposed to start the position with your feet flat, then go into a squat.
step 2= stand up and THEN raise your toes and go into a squat
and repeat step 2 twice.
So do which ever one makes more sense to you – and listen to your body! Don’t push it because you want Britney Spears’ legs
Just do it frequently throughout the day as a workout posture even because I do – and maybe that’s cheating? But we love breaking the rules don’t we 
