Intermediate

Overall the correct leg action is critical to getting into the upward bow. Most people instinctively use their quadriceps in a push action, which thrusts weight toward the head and arms, making it very difficult to raise the upper body off the floor. Initiating the lift of the pelvis with more of a “pulling” action […]

Even though pincha mayurasana is considered preparation for vrschikasana, scorpion is actually an easier pose to maintain because o its lower center of gravity. To deepen from pincha mayurasana into scorpion, the scapulae need to slide together on the back, which lowers the rib cage toward the floor and creates more mobility in the thoracic

For some, the ideal placement of the weight on the skull is on the bregma—the junction between the coronal and sagittal structures, where the frontal bone meets the two parietal bones. This leads to a slightly more arched final position. Placing the weight more towards the crown of the head leads to a more neutral

If the knees separate in this pose, the rotation is happening more in the hi joints than in the spine. In the rotated pose, the arms are more abducted and the spine is more extended than in bakasana. Because this is a bound pose, it can put a lot of force into the lower back

In bird pose (eagle, crow, rooster, peakcock), common factors are flexion of the thoracic spine, abduction of the scapulae, and extension of the cervical spine. In other words, wings are spread and the beak is lifted. These actions require precision and strength in the muscles of the spine to achieve cervical extension without engaging the

Astavakra was a very learned sage whose mother attended Vedic chanting class while pregnant. While he was in his mother’s womb, he winced at eight of his father’s mispronunciations of Vedic prayers, and was thus born with eight bends in his body.

Weakness in the pose shows up in the lower body as lumbar hyperextension combined with hip flexion. To counter this, the coordinated action of the hamstrings is important. In the upper body, weakness in the triceps and serratus anterior can show up as a downward rotation of the scapulae and overuse of the pectoralis major

If the goal is to have extension distributed throughout the whole spine, there will need to be more action in the thoracic region and less in the lumbar and cervical regions. This translates into concentric work for the extensors in the thoracic spine and eccentric work for the flexors in the cervical and lumbar spines.

To extend the elbows and resist collapse in the shoulder, the triceps are active. The latissimus dorsi often try to help this action, but they depress and internally rotate the shoulder, which creates impingement at the acromion process. The pronators are active in the forearm, but if there is a lack of rotation between the