Locust (Sanskrit term: Salambhasana)
This month’s opening section above is on using the slogans and taglines you see every day to your best advantage—as life affirming reminders. Viewing advertising as an affirmation is perhaps a new concept for you. It will take some baby steps to get there. Yoga poses are like that too. Locus Pose is best approached in baby steps. Make sure you are okay in the previous poses and then you’re ready!
Benefits:
- Strengthens: glutes, upper back, lower back, backs of the arms and legs
- Stretches: Hip flexors, abs, chest, shoulders, thighs
- Stimulates abdominal organs
- Aids digestion
- Improves stamina
- Relieves stress
- Opens your heart energetically (stimulates heart chakra)
- Stimulates the solar plexus chakra, which contains your power (highlighted chakra)
- Helps to relieve constipation and indigestion
Alignment Cues: Lie face-down on your stomach, forehead resting on the mat your palms face-down underneath your shoulders to start. Curl your tailbone toward the floor to release and protect your low back throughout this pose. Engage your inner thighs, your abs and glutes as you lift your upper body off the ground starting with basic cobra pose.
Feel a line of energy from head to toe. Keep the chin tucked, softening the neck. Press your hips into the floor and your shoulder blades down your back. If you are still doing okay, lift your legs off the ground, keeping the top of each thigh still touching.
Finally, if you are still doing okay, reach your arms behind you, palms up and hovering for full locust pose.
Beginners:
- Option to keep your forehead on the floor, palms underneath your shoulders as above, and lift one leg then drop it back down, and then lift the other leg and drop it back down to see how this affects your low back.
If you are doing okay with the above, option to lift both legs off the ground at the same time, keeping the top of the thighs still touching, and the forehead down on the mat. - Option to just lift the upper body, leaving the legs down—reaching the arms behind you, palms up and hovering
.
- Focus on lengthening more than lifting. Reach forward through the crown of your head and back through your toes.
Add a prop:
- “Place a block along the inner edges of your feet from your inner heel to your big toe. Play with the width of the block: If your low back is stiff, use the widest dimension.
To keep the sacrum wide, resist gripping in the buttocks. Draw the outer legs down to the floor while reaching the inner thighs to the ceiling. Visualize the backs of your legs widening. If this is hard to access, press your thumbs onto the center of the buttocks and strongly move the buttock flesh away from your lumbar area. Press the center of the buttocks toward your heels as you lift the thighs (keep the block on the floor).” https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/yoga-sequences/strong-spirit/ (Scroll down to locust pose) - You might want to add a blanket below the pelvis and/or ribs for comfort. (Not Shown)
- You can also place a block between your inner thighs just above the knees. This facilitates the inward thigh spiral as well as activates the root chakra for grounding.
- Add a strap around the ankles. This pose may help stabilize the Sacroiliac joint. “Strap your ankles 8 to 12 inches apart. Lie on your belly with you arms alongside your body, palms facing up. As you inhale, lift your arms, legs, and chest up. Pulling the legs strongly outward against the strap may relieve sacroiliac symptoms; it contracts outer hip muscles (gluteus medius and minimus) that put the ilium bones apart, temporarily creating a gap between the sacrum and the ilium to give the sacrum the freedom to move back into place. Introduce this pose gradually and back off immediately if it causes discomfort.” Yoga Journal, March 2008 issue.
Variation: Clasp hands behind you with arms straight to further open your heart center and unfurl your curled shoulders.
Advanced version: For more challenge, try Sea Monster Pose/ Makarasana. Legs stay the same but the fingers are clasped with palms pressed against the back of the head.
Contraindicated for those with serious back injury. Those with neck injuries should keep the head neutral by looking down at the floor.
Spiritual aspects of Locust Pose: Locust pose activates your solar plexus chakra—your willpower chakra; your right to act. It also activates your heart chakra—your right to love and be loved. Locust pose connects you to your inner fire—to your spirit within. Connecting your willpower to your heart empowers your actions to be heart focused.
Backbends help to relieve depression. They encourage your inner fire to rise up. Feel this energy as your inner wisdom. Access your inner wisdom through locust pose. As you raise your upper body you raise the blinds on your inner strength and wisdom. Activate what lies within your heart.
Sources: Yoga Journal.com, and Yoga Journal magazine
Beth Shaw’s YogaFit®, The program for a more powerful, flexible, and defined physique, Second Edition
