What is śalabhāsana (locust pose)?
Śalabhāsana or locust pose is where the yogī uses his or her abdominal muscles to raise the legs backwards against gravity. This increases the strength of the back and abdomen.
What is the technique to practice śalabhāsana ?
- Sthithi (starting) position: First, lie down on your stomach, face to the floor.
- Second, place hands alongside the body, with elbows close to the sides.
- Importantly, keep the feet together. Also, relax the muscles in the back and abdomen. Exhale slowly.
- Inhaling partially, use the stomach, shoulder, and hand muscles to lift the legs off the ground.
- Additionally, keep knees and feet as straight as possible.
- Remember to maintain position for 5-10 counts.
- Next, exhale and return to original position.
- Bring hand to the side. Relax.
- Breathe normally. Repeat 3 to 6 times.
- The dṛṣṭi (gaze) recommended is focus on svādhiṣṭhāna-cakra.
What are the benefits of practicing śalabhāsana?
Firstly, performing this āsana involves increasing the tension in the muscles of the abdomen, back, buttocks, and legs. As a result, the blood supply to the lower abdomen, colon, and rectal area increases. This rejuvenates the muscles and nerves there.
Importantly, the action of lifting the legs using the abdominal muscles increases the intra-abdominal pressure. Consequently, this ensures copious blood supply to the intestines and rectal muscles, inducing peristalsis and curing constipation.
Also, the action compresses the buttocks, which results in increased blood circulation to the rectal muscles and anal sphincter. Thus it improves evacuation and control of ailments such as piles.
Finally, the use of the hands to leverage the stomach muscles results in the toning of the back, neck, shoulder, and wrist muscles. It also increases the strength and suppleness of the spine.
What are the contraindications for śalabhāsana ?
- Initially, when starting, have someone support the ankles, as you lift them. Since the reverse lift is a new exercise to the abdominal muscles, you may get stomach cramps or sprains. If there is pain, stop immediately.
- Importantly, if you have any form of backache, push yourself only to the point where there is no discomfort. When pain or discomfort starts, stop immediately. With practice, the back will begin to flex better.
- Also, practitioners suffering from kidney ailments and vertigo must be careful not to strain beyond the limits of their bodies.
- This āsana should not be practiced during menstruation.
- Lastly, since this exercise exerts pressure on the heart, people with cardiac concerns should perform this āsana under supervision.
Some noteworthy points on śalabhāsana :
Internal Links: Dharma (conditioning), Prana, Asana overview 1, Asana Focus or gazing,
External Links: Prana, Chakra.
- Significantly, all the ancient texts consider this āsana to be one of the 32 most important āsanas.
- Importantly, the point of focus will determine the benefit accrued from the āsana . In the photograph above (Image 2), as one can see, Sundaram’s knees are straight, but he is raising his legs only to a small extent, a bit above the ground. This strengthens the stomach muscles, and intra-abdominal pressure builds up, resulting in peristalsis and better evacuation of the bowels. Next to him, Vishwanath is keeping the ankles together but taking the feet higher, because the shoulders and lower back leverage the legs. This position will increase the strength of the lower back.
- Also, the position of the hands is important. When we stretch our hands fully, the abdominal muscles can take the strain of lifting the legs. However, if the hands are bent at the elbows, the deltoids provide reaction support to the abdominal muscles. The latter reduces the efficacy of śalabhāsana and hence it should be avoided. Hands should be stretched straight along the length of the body, and close to it.
- Lastly, the reason one is asked to take a half breath in śalabhāsana and in mayurāsana is to ensure that the abdomen is not unduly stressed. In complete exhalation, the abdominal viscera would be loosely packed in the abdomen, while after complete inhalation; the abdomen would be tight, leading to stomach cramps. This is avoided by taking a half breath whereby the abdomen is not stressed.