SIDE ANGLE POSE 

Parsva=Side or flank
Kona=Angle
Asana=Pose

 Steps:   

1. Stand in Tadasana
2. Step your feet wide apart. Inhale and extend your arms out to the side. Ideally, your ankles should be under your wrists.
3. Turn your left foot in slightly and turn your right leg out directly to the side.
4. Exhale, bend your right knee to 90 degrees, and place your right fingertips on the outside edge of your right ankle. Place your left hand on your hip. Take your hips and thighs back, widen your sitting bones apart, and widen the pelvic floor. Keep the space between your sitting bones and root your tailbone down, extending from your pelvis down through your feet. Extend your left arm towards the ceiling and look up at your thumb.
5. Hold for several breaths, then pull your legs toward each other, inhale and come up. Repeat on the other side.

Modifications and props:

If you have a hard time touching the floor with your hand, place a block besides your foot to place your hand on.

Benefits:

Strengthens the ankles, calves, knees, and thighs
Relieves symptoms of sciatica
Open the hips and groin
Increases lung capacity
Alleviates symptoms of arthritis
Lengthens the spine
Improves digestion

Contraindications:

Knee injury
Low blood pressure (keep fingertips upward toward the ceiling)