This 6 minute tutorial will give you two excellent ways to use Baddha Konasana to increase your hip flexibility. I use these two methods almost every day.

For starters bound angle refers to bringing the feet all the way back to the pelvis and the binding of the feet with the hands. Additionally the act of pressing the feet against each other stabilizes or binds the feet. These various bindings are bandhas (to bind) that serve to help you create a snug stable seat like the trusty stance of an Indian shoe cobbler who sits like this to make or repair shoes.
Also in mining the name ‘Bound Angle’ you can think imaginatively and inventively about the process of forming angles with your body when doing your postures. You want to be able to visualize the shape you are making in terms of the angles that are formed by your spine, arms and legs. The joints often serve as the junction points where two lines meet and angles are formed. Where joints are located you find the place where an angle is formed.
For example in Baddha Konasana ideally you want to create a neutral, upright pelvis, and then cause the femur bones to emerge out the pelvis at a 90 degree angle to the neutral pelvis. Achieving this angle is important for establishing the foundation of your posture and also for including your entire skeleton in the alignment equation. If your back and/or hips are tight your pelvis will not be upright but rather tilted backwards. You will lose the ability to create the 90 degree angle that you are looking to form between the pelvis and the femur bones. Thus the foundation of your posture will not support your position or your breathing or the energetic and meditative work that you want to do while in the position.
Baddha Konasana can serve as a model for other asanas. Your well-founded cobblers seat allows you to sit so that the spine ascends and goes upwards in a direct line from the base upwards. This is conducive to the practices of dhyana (meditation), pranayama (breath control), bandhas (internal locks). This position also gives you the best access to the many healing benefits of this position.

The Benefits of Baddha Konasana:
• Strengthens and improves flexibility in the inner thighs, groins and the knees (flexion)
• Helps prepare the hips and groins for meditative seated poses, which require flexibility in these areas
• Serves as an excellent meditation posture on its own
• Promotes healthy menstrual cycle, increases regularity and cleansing flow and decreases painful symptoms such as cramping, etc.
• Improves function of the digestive organs by increasing the space in the abdomen and pelvis, this allows the digestive organs to realign and regain their optimal position
• Stimulates the abdominal organs, potentially improving the health of the ovaries, prostate gland, kidneys and bladder.
• Alleviates fatigue, depression, lethargy
• Helps bring space and energy to lower back and relieves sciatica
• Bringing awareness and energy to the pelvis and groin areas can help you to address physical, energetic and emotional blockages and help you to overcome problems with sexual inhibitions, guilt, fears, and past traumas.
*To ensure that you receive the many benefits listed above, remain seated in this pose with proper skeletal alignment for 50 or more breaths.