Parsva Bakasana – Side Crow

Fly this yoga pose after mindfully warming up your body and understanding the integration of stable joints found in the safe alignment of chaturanga arms. Link to the video below for ways in which to support your arm balance journey and fly side crow using a wall and/or blocks.

VIDEO DEMONSTRATING PROPS FOR SIDE CROW YOGA EVANGELIST YOUTUBE

Side Crow: Parsva Bakasana

Trying to fly into side crow and looking for ways to manage enough air time to integrate the engagement of your body with your breath?

Please be mindful of adequately warming up all the body parts necessary for safely building this arm balance pose before attempting it. In a recent Vinyasa 75 where we peaked with this pose, we flowed with twisted chair, twisted crescent lunge, toe stand, and focused on proper engagement of Chaturanga arms before flying Parsva Bakasana or Side Crow.

To find the shape in your body, try props. These tools can assist you in attaining this arm balance. Side Crow pose strengthens the arms, wrists and shoulders, tones the belly and spine and it is foundational for several other arm balancing postures. More on those in future posts and videos.

For me, Side Crow initially came easier than crow. Crow was the first arm balance I learned in a yoga class. After flying it for months it felt more sturdy and I finally had some little aha moments in crow.  However, side crow felt stable almost from the get go. I just moved right into it. The downside of this can mean not fully feeling the posture in all of my physique, just exhibiting it in my exterior.

By creating the shape in the body using props, I find the time to actually practice parsva bakasana, not just popping into a side twist while balancing on my hands. This exploration helped transform the yoga pose into a more sincere study of the posture. 

As promised to students, here’s a little video showing how to prop this posture so you might feel the internal workings of side crow pose and steady your mind while practicing it as well. Get yourself some blocks and / or a wall and carpe that crow! 

Parsva Bakasana – Side Crow

Fly this yoga pose after mindfully warming up your body and understanding the integration of stable joints found in the safe alignment of chaturanga arms. Link to the video below for ways in which to support your arm balance journey and fly side crow using a wall and/or blocks.

VIDEO: USE THE WALL AND / OR BLOCKS FOR SIDE CROW

CREDITS
Thank you to Natalie Imo for modeling this pose. Natalie’s Beyond Yoga flamingo leggings & bra available at Yoga Six Des Peres.