Salabhasana - Locust

BACK BODY STRENGTH
Salabhasana/Locust is by far my favourite backbend. I slot it into my vinyasas instead of Bhujangasana/Cobra to strengthen my whole back body, not just the muscles of my spine. ‘The posterior chain’ refers to the whole back body. It runs from the back of the heels up through the calves, hamstrings, glutes, lower back (lumbar spine), upper back (thoracic spine), neck (cervical spine) and ends just under the back curve of the skull (occipital curve). This chain of muscles are designed to hold us upright. If they are weak they become fatigued more easily and cause an overcurve of the upper spine and shoulders, resulting in a flattening of the lower spine as the body tries to compensate for the forward sway of the upper back and head. The posterior chain becomes weakened from lack of use or from long periods of sitting. A strong posterior chain protects the back and encourages good posture. In Salabhasana/Locust we are lifting the weight of the whole body against gravity which makes it a very strengthening pose for the posterior chain and the back of the arms. It also stretches the front of the shoulders, the chest, the belly and the front of the thighs. Although Salabhasana/Locust is quite a challenging pose to hold for more than a few breaths it is very accessible for beginners and is the perfect pose to prepare for deeper backbends.

THE BENEFITS OF SALABHASANA/LOCUST
The backbend family stimulates the nervous system, aids digestion, boosts circulation, boosts the immune system, and ease stress, tension, anxiety and mental fatigue. They also expand lung capacity and ease symptoms of asthma and sleep apnea. Backends that place pressure on your abdomen, like Salabhasana/Locust, have the added bonus of stimulating the organs of the body and aiding digestion by encouraging peristalsis in the muscles of the colon which help to push waste food along detoxing the body of food waste.

EXPLORING SALABHASANA/LOCUST IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence will give you plenty of opportunities to explore Salabhasana/Locust. Instead of linking your standing mini flows with a standard vinyasa you will come down to the ground and spend some time in a series of Salabhasana/Locust and Salabhasana versions. When you are moving through these poses use your public bone as your grounding anchor and see if you lightly draw your navel towards your spine. There is a temptation to puff the belly to fill the lungs and get higher but this will bypass the muscle activity of the back body. Stay lower and feel for the strength of the muscles all along the back body rather than striving for as much height as you can get.

ALIGNMENT CUES
There are two Salabhasana mini flows. You will take the Mini flow A as a warm up at the end of the first row and you will take the full Mini Flow B after each standing flow indicated by ‘+ MINI FLOW B’. Take your time in this section of your practice and remember this is the essence of this sequence.

Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• Lie on your front, arms by your sides, palms facing your body, forehead resting on the ground.

• Inhale, press into your pubic bone, lift your head, upper torso, arms and legs, lift with the whole back. Reach your chest forward and up.

• Extend your arms towards your feet, lift your legs up and press through the balls of your feet, roll your inner thighs up.

• Broaden through the collarbones, firm your shoulder blades onto your back, back of the neck long, gaze slightly forward.

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Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Ashta Chandrasana - Crescent Moon

KEEP IT SIMPLE
Your favourite yoga pose doesn’t have to be one of the big poses that takes years to master. The poses we see on social media are beautiful to look at, and can be quite aspirational, but don’t really reflect the poses that are the essence of the practice. The magic begins the minute you step on your mat with the simpler poses that are often overlooked as not much more than warm up poses. This month's pose is one of my favourite poses that you’ll encounter in almost every yoga class - Ashta Chandrasana/Crescent Moon or more commonly known as high lunge.

THE BENEFITS OF ASHTA CHANDRASANA/CRESCENT MOON
The muscles of the legs are the biggest muscles of the body. As a standing pose Ashta Chandrasana/Crescent Moon builds focus, heat, stamina, strength; increases circulation, metabolism; and improves posture, spinal health and coordination. This pose is more challenging than you’d expect and with the extended leg position it requires plenty of muscle activity to keep you balanced.

Yoga is not just about stretching – it’s about equal amounts of stretching and strengthening. Even within the stretching element, containing the stretch and finding the strength of the muscle first will give you a more supported injury free practice. In Ashta Chandrasana/Crescent Moon the temptation is to release the muscles that support the hip joint, and let the weight of the upper body sink the hips down as low as they can go. In this position you have lost the support of the muscles in the hip joint and are more likely to overstretch muscles. A more supportive version of the pose is to come to 80% of your full range of motion, firm the buttocks muscles of your back leg and hug your outer hips to the midline. Feel strength in the muscles that are flexing and a contained supported stretch in the muscles that are extending. Get familiar with how this feels and how this principle might feel in all your yoga poses throughout your practice for a more sustainable lifelong practice.

EXPLORING ASHTA CHANDRASANA/CRESCENT MOON IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence has six rounds of Ashta Chandrasana/Crescent Moon and gives you plenty of opportunities to find your strong leg muscles. The feet are a crucial part of the pose – press down into the ground and draw your hip bone back into their sockets as you hug your outer hips to the midline. Grounding down through your feet will trigger strength in your legs and your spine, while hugging to the midline will stabilise and help you balance in this wide legged position. The sequence starts with a series of standing poses with the feet together to help you find your connection with the ground before you move into Ashta Chandrasana/Crescent Moon where the feet are much further apart and your balance is challenged.

Before you come up to high lunge make sure your feet are at least hip distance apart – like you’re feet are on train tracks. The wider your feet are the easier it is to balance when standing. In the second round of Ashta Chandrasana/Crescent Moon you will start with a bent back leg and lift your pointy hip bones at the front of your pelvis up to find the stretch in the hip flexors. Then gradually move to straighten out the back leg any amount without letting the hip bone tilt forward again.

ALIGNMENT CUES
There are lots of standing poses in this sequence. Take breaks if you need to and either stand in Tadasana/Mountain for a few breaths or come to the ground in between mini flows and take a child's pose or a few rounds of cat/cow to ease out any built up tension.

Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• From Adho Mukha Svanasana, inhale, step your right foot between your hands, exhale here.

• Inhale, press into your feet to come up, reach your arms up high, shoulder width apart or palms together. Stack your front knee over your front ankle.

• Press out through your left heel, firm your back leg, lift the thigh of your back leg up, hug your outer hips to the midline.

• Press into your feet and push the floor away, firm your left buttocks.

• Lift your pointy hip bones up to stack your pelvis perpendicular to the ground.

• Draw your navel towards your spine, broaden through your collarbones, lengthen through your spine to the tip of your crown, gaze forward or to your fingertips.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Chaturanga Dandasana - Four Limb Staff

NOT JUST A TRANSITIONAL POSE
Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Limb Staff is a pose in its own right which is often lost in vanyasanas somewhere between Phlankasana/Plank and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana/Upwards Facing Dog! It is a tricky pose, which is why we sometimes rush through it to get to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana/Upwards Facing Dog or Bhujangasana/Cobra. When performed repeatedly, and not given the time and respect it deserves, it has the potential to cause shoulder, lower back and wrist injuries. Having a better understanding of the alignment of the pose will not only give you the opportunity to strengthen your arms and shoulders but will help you recognise when to reduce your repetitions of the pose to avoid injuries.

THE BENEFITS OF CHATURANGA DANDASANA/FOUR LIMB STAFF
Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Limb Staff is an arm balancing pose and teaches you the principles of stabilising the shoulder joint and prepares you for more challenging arm balances where the legs are lifted. When performed with integrity it also strengthens the shoulders, spine, arms, core, glutes, and legs.

COMMON MISALIGNMENTS
After several rounds of sun salutations or vinyasas the muscle of the shoulder can start to fatigue. When muscles run out of steam, it can put unwanted load on the joint and potentially injure the fatigued muscles, tendons or the surrounding supporting ligaments. Most of us are asymmetrical – where one side is weaker or stronger than the other – when this is the case it can either put too much pressure on the weaker side, or the stronger side compensates which can eventually increase your chance of repetitive strain injuries. One of the most common misalignments is when the shoulders drop lower than the elbows. When this happens we push great force into the shallow shoulder joint in an extended position. This is not a naturally strong position for the joint, and causes too much reliance on the upper shoulder muscles rather than utilising all of the shoulder muscles. Common misalignments in Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Limb Staff to watch out for are:

• Elbows splayed - causes pressure in the shoulder joint - track the elbows with the shoulders.

• Shoulders dropped lower than the elbows - causes pressure in the shoulder joint - broaden through the collarbones and lift the chest up to lower down.

• Chest sunken down - pinching in between the shoulder blades - press into the hands, spread shoulder blades across your back.

• Shoulders hunched up towards ears - neck issues - soften shoulders away from the ears.

• Belly dropped down to the ground - pressure in the lower back - draw your navel towards your spine.

EXPLORING CHATURANGA DANDASANA/FOUR LIMB STAFF IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence will bring you through different versions of chaturanga to help you build shoulder, spine, arm and core strength to gradually prepare for the peak pose. Some with the knees down to gradually build you up to the full pose, and some using props so you can stay longer in the pose and build a blueprint of it in your body. If the full pose is not safely possible for you at the moment, continue to use the props or bring the knees down for the full sequence. These are valuable versions of the pose and ones I use frequently if I am repeatedly coming down to the floor in my practice. Versions of Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Limb Staff:

V1 - from Phlankasana/Plank Pose bring your knees down and slowly bend your elbows and lower down until your shoulders are no lower than your elbows.

V2 - position a brick under your hips, from Phlankasana/Plank Pose slowly bend your elbow and lower down until your hips are lightly supported by the brick, press into your hands, arms hugging in, collarbones wide, lengthen through the whole spine.

V3 - position two bricks standing upright in front or your fingertips, from Phlankasana/Plank Pose slowly bend your elbow and lower down until your shoulders are lightly supported by the bricks, draw your navel towards your spine, press into your hands, arms hugging in, collarbones wide, lengthen through the whole spine.

V4 - wrap a belt loop around your upper arms, from Phlankasana/Plank Pose slowly bend your elbow and lower down until your chest is lightly supported by the belt, draw your navel towards your spine, press into your hands, arms hugging in, collarbones wide, lengthen through the whole spine.

ALIGNMENT CUES
Take your time with this sequence and treat it like a mini home workshop. If you don’t have bricks use stacked books and if you don't have a belt use a scarf. These versions might take a bit of organisation but it will be well worth the set up time. They support you in the pose and give you a chance to spend a bit of time exploring what your optimum alignment feels like.

Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• From Phalakasana/Plank Pose, inhale, press out through your heels to firm your legs, draw your navel towards your spine, firm your shoulder blades onto your back, and broaden through the collarbones.

• Press into all five knuckles of your hands pull them towards your feet as you reach your chest forward. Exhale, bend your elbows, track them directly in line with your shoulders.

• Lower your chest forward and down. Lift through the upper back and spread your shoulder blades as you lower.

• Think ‘up’ as you are coming down.

• Hug your hips to the midline and squeeze your thighs. Roll your inner thighs up and reach your tailbone towards your heels.

• Draw your navel towards your spine to keep the core strong.

• Elbow stacked over wrists or a little further back toward your feet to avoid injury to the wrist or irritation to carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Keep your head in line with your spine, back of the neck long, gaze down.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru