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30 DYC Day 22 Forearm Balance & Headstand
Dolphin Pose / Dolphin Splits Ardha Pincha Mayurasana Or Catur Svanasana
I chose the Dolphin pose and Dolphin Split pose because I am still building my strength to achieve a handstand. This pose has been really valuable in helping me to achieve this.
Dolphin Pose is an intermediate inversion that strengthens the arms, core, and legs and can help with osteoporosis. Dolphin Pose opens the chest and is known to calm the brain and help with symptoms of depression. Preparatory postures for Dolphin Pose include, Plank and Forward Fold. Yogi’s with shoulder or neck issues, keep the knees bent.
Most beginners can try this but some may find it challenging if they don’t have the upper body strength or if their leg muscles are weak. Because dolphin yoga is a semi-inverted asana, use it to build strength in the shoulders, upper back, triceps, biceps, pelvis and hips.Dolphin yoga pose can serve as a warm-up for those that want to proceed to more advanced level poses like Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Balance). It’s also beneficial for those who want to increase their range of motion and learn how to balance their weight on their upper body. Experienced yogis and yoginis may use dolphin yoga pose before raising their legs above their heads and doing a headstand or handstand. However, it’s not best for anyone that’s had a stroke, suffers high blood pressure or has a shoulder injury or glaucoma.
- Come to a hands and knees kneeling position at the centre of your mat.
- Slide your palms forward to lower your elbows to the mat so that you are on your knees and forearms with your shoulders stacked directly over your elbows. The forearms should be parallel and shoulders’ distance apart.
- Press strongly into your contact points with the mat (fingers, palms, forearms, and elbows) to engage the muscles around your shoulder girdle and lift your chest away from the floor.
- Curl your toes under and lift your hips to a Downward Facing Dog position.
- When you take your hips up and back, your shoulders will also naturally shift back.
- Keep actively pressing down through your arms to lift your chest.
- Let your head hang, though it should not touch the floor.
- If you are working toward Forearm Stand (Pincha Mayurasana), you may want to begin walking your feet in bit by bit, eventually bringing the shoulders back over the elbows and the hips closer to over the shoulders.
- You can also practice lifting your head to bring your gaze to the floor between the palms once you have walked your feet in as close as possible.
- Lifting one leg at a time will start to give you the feeling of transferring your weight into your forearms, and you can take it into a dolphin split.
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