The closing Paścimottānāsana is the seated forward fold taken once more after the backbends, before the shoulderstand sequence begins. In Sharath Jois's Aṣṭāṅga Yoga Anuṣṭhāna it has its own page and its own count: sixteen vinyāsas, with the state at vinyāsa 9, held for ten breaths rather than the five of the Paścimottānāsana in the seated series. It follows Ūrdhva Dhanurāsana, so it is the first deep forward fold after a run of backbends, and it prepares the spine and the back of the neck for the inversions that follow.

The name is the same as the seated Paścimottānāsana: paścima (west, the back of the body), ut (intense) and tāna (stretch), with āsana (seat). The word closing is only a way to tell the two apart on this site; the book gives this appearance of the pose its own heading, with the gaze on the toes (pādāgre) and the longer ten-breath hold.

The closing Paścimottānāsana has a 16-vinyāsa count, with the state at vinyāsa 9 (Anuṣṭhāna, p. 76). Counted from sapta, as the seated poses are: vinyāsa 7, jump through; vinyāsa 8 (inhale), lock the hands around the feet and look up; vinyāsa 9 (exhale), fold with the head and chin toward the knees and hold for ten breaths; vinyāsa 10 (inhale), head up, then exhale; vinyāsa 11 (inhale), lift up; vinyāsas 12 to 14, jump back to Caturaṅga, Ūrdhva Mukha Śvānāsana and Adho Mukha Śvānāsana. The ten breaths are the only difference in the hold from the Paścimottānāsana of the seated series.

After the last Ūrdhva Dhanurāsana, the practitioner rolls back through Cakrāsana to Caturaṅga, goes through Ūrdhva Mukha Śvānāsana to Adho Mukha Śvānāsana and, on an inhale, jumps through to sit with the legs straight. On the next inhale the hands lock around the feet and the head lifts.

The legs are straight and together, the hands locked around the feet. On the exhale the torso folds forward from the hips and the head and chin come toward the knees. The hold is ten breaths, longer than the five of the seated series, with the gaze on the toes. Each exhale can lengthen the fold a little without pulling on the lower back.

On an inhale the head lifts, with an exhale to follow. On the next inhale the practitioner lifts up with the legs crossed and then jumps back, through Caturaṅga and Ūrdhva Mukha Śvānāsana to Adho Mukha Śvānāsana. From there the practitioner jumps through and lies down for Sālamba Sarvāṅgāsana.

Pādāgra dṛṣṭi, the gaze on the toes. This is the one finishing pose in the book whose gaze is on the toes; the poses on either side of it use the tip of the nose.

Mūla bandha and uḍḍīyāna bandha stay engaged. Uḍḍīyāna bandha draws the lower abdomen in on each exhale, which lets the torso settle forward over the thighs and takes the strain off the lower back during the long hold.

The legs are straight, the knees are not forced down by pulling, and the sitting bones are heavy. The fold comes from the hip creases, and the spine stays long as far as the hamstrings allow before it rounds. The hands stay locked around the feet without hauling on them.

Rounding the back early to bring the head down faster, instead of folding from the hips. Pulling the head toward the knees by force with the arms. Letting the breath shorten because ten breaths is longer than the usual five. Holding the knees locked hard backward when the hamstrings are tight.

The hamstrings, calves and the long muscles along the back of the spine are stretched. The hip flexors and abdominal wall work to bring the torso forward, and the fold also takes the lumbar and thoracic spine from the extension of the backbends into flexion.

Traditionally said to quiet the nervous system and to soften the back after the backbends. The long hold gives the body time to settle before the inversions. As with all the poses here, tight hamstrings or a sensitive lower back call for bent knees and a shorter fold.

Bend the knees as much as is needed to keep the spine long, or sit on a folded blanket to lift the hips. A strap around the feet can replace the hand lock. If ten breaths is too long, take five and keep the breath even.

The Paścimottānāsana of the seated series is the direct preparation. Ūrdhva Dhanurāsana comes just before and is the reason the forward fold is welcome here. Jānu Śīrṣāsana and the Marīcyāsana series build the hamstring length.

This fold counters the backbends just completed. It is in turn followed by Sālamba Sarvāṅgāsana, which takes the neck into flexion with the weight on the shoulders.

After the backbends, which open and lift, the closing Paścimottānāsana turns the practice back inward before the inversions. It shows in small the shape of the whole practice, expansion followed by a return to stillness, and ten slow breaths in one position is a plain exercise in staying with the breath.