Easy Crow Pose - Sukha Kakasana

Sukha Kakasana brings mental balance and focus and improves strength in the wrists and arms.

Easy Crow Pose - Sukha Kakasana


Category 

Arm Balance

Chakra  

Svadhishthana/Sacral Chakra

Meaning

Sukha means ease and kakasana translates as crow pose

Benefits of Easy Crow Pose

Regular practice steadily and comfortably within a balanced yoga asana program:

  • Stimulates the Sacral Chakra and therefore stimulates and balances the functions of your urinary tract, kidneys, and gonads to develop strength in the shoulders, arms, and wrists
  •  Benefits the circulatory system in the upper limbs and torso
  •  Opens the chest and stretches the intercostal muscles, therefore increasing lung capacity
  • Increases core awareness, balance, and coordination
  • Stretches and at the same time strengthens the groin and inner thighs
  •  Increases focus and concentration
  •  Removes fatigue
  • Increases vitality and willpower.

Instructions for Easy Crow Pose

How to come into the pose

  1. Sit on your toes, with heels (almost) together and knees apart.
  2. Place your elbows in the crease of your knees (the fleshy part between the lower and upper legs).
  3. Keep your hands slightly higher than your knees, fingers spread widely and fingertips slightly pointed inwards.
  4. Maintain this alignment as you shift your weight forward, placing your palms (shoulder-width apart) on the floor.
  5. Focusing your eyes on a point half a meter in front of your fingertips on the floor, slowly lift your feet off the floor, one foot at a time.
  6. Pulling both feet toward your hips, keep looking at a point on the floor approximately 1 foot in front of your fingertips.

Coming out of the pose

  1. Shifting your weight backwards, with control, place your feet on the floor and release your hands.

Alignment Cues for Easy Crow Pose

  1. Keep your core active by continuously lifting your heels toward your buttocks.
  2. Keep your back slightly rounded.
  3. The angle between your hand and forearm should be 90 degrees.
  4. If it is not, lift your wrist slightly higher by placing a blanket underneath the lower part of your palm (so the upper part of your palm and fingers are lower than the lower part of your palm and root of your thumb).

Duration of Hold

  • Beginners: 10–20 seconds
  • Intermediate: 20–40 seconds
  • Advanced: 40 seconds–1 minute

Modifications

  • If balancing is challenging initially, you can press the forehead against a cushion on the floor to practice the weight shift.

Cautions and Contra-indications

  • Wrist issues
  • Shoulder issues
  • Knee issues
  • Groin and hamstring issues
  • Cardiovascular issues
  • Hypertension

Relevant Poses

Rest in Child’s Pose and then move on to Classical Triangle Pose – Trikonasana.

For more yoga asanas and exercises, make sure to visit Arhanta Yoga Asana Guide!

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