Quintessential Yoga Poses for Our Culture: Part II

Continuing my series on the poses that are the most essential for people in our culture, the next one is Salabhasana, or locust pose.  This pose strengthens the muscles in our back for better posture, counters the rounding in our shoulders, strengthens the muscles in our neck to counter the forward head position many of us have, and strengthens the muscles that help hold our intervertebral discs in place. There are more benefits, but that gives you the gist!

I do teach the pose in four steps:  Lift arms, then torso and legs, then lower torso and legs and then the arms.  Doing the pose in four parts helps you focus on lifting the arms correctly.

I have three variations that I teach regularly in classes.  The traditional, of course.  In this variation, as you lift the arms, draw them into your body as well.  You will feel your inner shoulder blades move into your back and support the opening of your heart:

Then I also like this one because it strengthens the muscles that draw your shoulder blades together (to counter the forward slump).  Be sure to lift the arms by drawing the shoulder blades together:

The third and final variation deserves its own post because of its complexity.  Coming soon!

Related Posts:

• Quintessential Yoga Poses for our Culture: Introduction
• Quintessential Yoga Poses for our Culture: Part I