Bakasana Breakdown: Crow Pose Essentials

This is the first video in the Bakasana Journey Series. MyYogaWorks has over 750 online yoga classes for any level, length or style. Sign up here with promo code FLOW and your first month is free! 

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Have you ever told your friend about a yoga class you took and been annoyed when their response was, “I just don’t think yoga is a real workout”? Well so have we, and we 100% attribute it to people not fully understanding the small intricate movements that force them to work a lot harder in each pose.

This pose breakdown of Bakasana (Crow Pose) covers the big cues you should be focusing on, as well as highlighting benefits and risks. Feel free to share with your skeptical friends.*

Bakasana is usually the first arm balance a beginner yoga student attempts. Arm balances can be scary, especially when a face plant is possible. But you know you can’t live life afraid of failure, and Bakasana is a fun and challenging way to combat that fear.  So, give it a shot!

The wrists and shoulders are the foundation of this pose, but it takes time to build strength in those areas, so make sure you don’t push yourself too fast. You really don’t need super-human strength for this pose—it’s more about shifting your weight and knowing when to engage the specific muscles required.

Getting into the pose:

From a squat position, plant your palms shoulder-width, come to the balls of your feet, open your knees and bring your knees as HIGH up on on the backs of your arms as possible. Lean forward, look forward, pick one foot up, then pick up the second foot while shifting forward.  Protect the wrists by resisting the tendency to let your elbows splay out.  Squeeze the heels to the butt and look forward to protect your neck.

Common problems we see students make:

• Legs aren’t hooked high enough on the arms
• Weight is on outside of the hands and fingers curl up (causing wrist pain)
• Combination of too much sweat and not enough friction. We’ve all been there (especially if the room is hot and you’re wearing shorts). Towel yourself off and try again!

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* Psst…you (and all the friends you’ve inspired to try yoga) can get a free month of unlimited access to over 750 online yoga videos on MyYogaWorks with promo code FLOW.

With the step by step instructions from seven top teachers, the Bakasana Journey Series on MyYogaWorks will teach you to “fly” on your arms whether you’ve new to arm balances or you want to learn advanced variations. Show your friends that yoga makes you strong, not just relaxed!