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A Guide To Mastering Crow Pose (Bakasana) In Yoga
If you've yet to start diving into arm balances in your yoga practice, it can feel intimidating when an instructor calls out an advanced yoga move like crow pose in the middle of class. Yes, you have to support your entire body in your hands, and yes, it does feel like you could fall flat on your face at first.
Like all arm balances, crow requires upper body and core strength with a strong mental focus, a touch of courage, and lots of patience. Here's how to do it, some tips to remember, and why this pose can be a beneficial addition to your practice.
How to do crow pose (bakasana):
- Come into a low squat with feet hip-width apart, heels lifted, and elbows on the inside of your knees.
- Begin to slowly lean forward, placing your hands on the floor in front of you, shoulder-width apart, and fingers spread wide. Engage the core and arms.
- Keeping your chin slightly forward, bend your arms so they make a 90-degree angle, pushing your hands into the floor and tilting your hips up. Your feet will start wanting to come off the ground.
- Slowly lift up one foot, maintaining the lift in the hips and the engagement of the core and arms.
- Once you're stable with one foot raised, begin to raise the other. Hold your gaze on the floor in front of you, and keep the 90-degree bend in your elbows. Remember to keep sending the hips up.
- Hold for five full breaths, and exit by placing your feet down and returning to the low squat.
5 poses to help you prepare for crow:
Cat-cow
- Come to all fours. Ground down through your palms.
- As you inhale, drop your belly, and bring your gaze up to the sky.
- As you exhale, curl and round your spine, and bring your gaze toward your belly button.
- Continue for 8 breaths.
Why it helps:
The "cat" portion of cat-cow, AKA the portion where the spine is rounded and arched like a cat, is the same motion you want to achieve in your crow pose. Get used to the feeling of tilting your hips and rounding your spine in cat, and look to do that in your crow.
Lizard pose
- From three-legged dog, bring your right knee to your nose. Plant your right foot on the mat, in between your hands.
- Bring the back knee down, and place both hands on the inside of your right foot.
- You have the option to stay here or bring your forearms down onto the mat.
- Hold for a few breaths, breathing into the pose. Release and repeat on the opposite side.
Why it helps:
For crow, you'll need loose hips and strong inner thighs. Lizard pose can help with both of those things!
Boat pose
- Come into a seated position on your mat.
- Engage your core and begin to lean back, lifting your feet off the floor, balancing on your seat.
- Keep your knees bent or extend them out straight for an extra challenge.
- Hold for 8 breaths.
Why it helps:
Anyone who's attempted crow (or any arm balance for that matter) knows core strength is essential. And what better way to flex those abs than with boat pose? The strength this pose creates ensures you'll be able to hold your midsection up in crow.
Chaturanga dandasana to upward facing dog
- From a standing position, fold forward, then hop your feet to the back of your mat.
- Come into your plank pose, then slowly lower your body all the way down to your mat.
- Inhale, press your hands into the ground, and your push chest forward for upward-facing dog. Exhale as you slowly release back down to the mat.
- Press through your palms, flip your feet so the soles touch the mat, and lift your hips up to the sky for downward dog.
- Release from down dog or flow back to the top of a plank and repeat the sequence.
Why it helps:
As an arm balance, crow of course requires upper body strength. One of the quickest ways you can strengthen your arms is with some solid rounds of chaturanga dandasana, so you can support your body weight in crow.
Warrior III
- From a warrior 1 position, ground down through your front foot.
- Peel the back toes off the ground, and bring your arms behind you.
- Push your back leg up, creating a straight line from toe to torso.
- Hold for a couple of breaths.
Why it helps:
Strengthening your balance is another important aspect of crow, and warrior 3 helps teach you how to counterbalance your weight. No more fears of falling on your face when you master this step!
Tips to remember:
- Be sure to warm up the wrists first.
- Use a strap around your upper arms to keep elbows from splaying out to the sides.
- Practice balancing by placing a yoga block on its shortest side under your feet. Rather than trying to lift both legs, focus on lifting one at a time for a few rounds.
- Place a pillow under your face if you're feeling fear around falling.
- Focus on lifting your hips high, almost as if your knees could lift off your elbows.
What are the benefits?
Crow is an empowering pose that, while challenging, is accessible with a strong, steady yoga practice. It strengthens the arms, first and foremost, but all arm balances also require core strength to support your body. It also strengthens the wrists, shoulders, and upper back. Plus, it opens up the hips (which is especially helpful if you've been sitting all day long).
And on top of that, the focus on concentration necessary for crow pose makes it excellent for flexing your mental muscles, too. It can be unnerving to risk falling, but overcoming that fear is part of the journey.
So, next time crow pose comes up in class, give it a go! Once you get the hang of it, you'll find you can hold it for a few seconds, maybe 10 seconds the next time, and so on. From there, you can begin incorporating this pose into your regular practice for extra strength and balance.
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