How to perform Pendant Pose
Kneel. Take your left shin over your right calf and press your legs together. Place your hands by your sides and, leaning forward, lift yourself up into a rocking balance. Strap a belt over your legs if necessary. Repeat on both sides.
What is Lolasana?
Lolasana, also known as Pendant Pose, is a dynamic and asymmetric hand balancing pose. It is named that due to the rocking motion you experience as you hold in it. This same motion can give you the feeling of flight or levitation.
Your legs should be in a kneeling position, one crossed over the other. The idea is to keep them pressed together, so sometimes you might find that a belt strapped around your knees and shins might help keep the integrity of the pose. Your hands are placed by your side and as you’re ready, you shift your weight forward and, keeping your shoulders open, lift yourself up for a few breaths. Due to its asymmetric nature, the pose is repeated on both sides.
When to use Lolasana?
Lolasana is a relatively simple hand balancing pose, especially if held for shorter periods of time, seen as you are not expected to lift yourself high off the ground and instead merely levitate a few centimetres above it.
For this reason, it can be incorporated into dynamic miscellaneous sequences for students of practically any level. It can be viewed as a preparatory pose for more challenging hand balances, such as, for example, Bakasana (Crow Pose). The latter is, in a way, the logical continuation of Lolasana, since it incorporates the same actions (in a more defined and pronounced way) and the centre of balance is shifted into more or less the same area.
The rocking action gently massages your shoulder joints, abdomen, and lower back, providing those areas of your body with the benefits of momentary contraction and relief. Moreover, core strength is necessary for maintaining the balance, meaning that this pose can really help increase overall strength and resilience in ways that will change the way your body feels on a day-to-day basis. Just like all balances, though, Lolasana, helps you work on many parts of your body simultaneously.
