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Bakasana
(Crow Pose)

How to perform Crow Pose

Start by squatting with your feet wide apart. Plant your hands on the inside of your feet, so that you can hook your elbows beneath your knees. Shift your weight forward and lift your feet up.

What is Bakasana?

Bakasana, or Crow Face, is one of the more advanced hand-balancing postures. It requires the practitioner to have strong wrists that will be able to support the body weight.

The elbows are hooked under the ankles, making it easier for you to regulate the height to which you lift your body off the ground. The hips rise up and the head tips down towards the floor.

When to use Bakasana?

In more advanced sequences, this pose can be used as the one preceding Adho Mukha Vrksasana. In this case, the student will extend themselves straight into Handstand after holding in Bakasana for a few breaths.

However, Bakasana can also be used as a self-standing pose and can even be attempted by students of most levels as a way of gauging their upper body strength and sense of balance.