Plank Pose - Step-by-Step Instructions

Nurture your love-hate relationship with Plank Pose. A beginner's best friend, it's the perfect precursor to more challenging arm balances.

Plank Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1

Start in Adho Mukha Svanasana. Then inhale and draw your torso forward until the arms are perpendicular to the floor and the shoulders directly over the wrists, torso parallel to the floor.

Step 2

Press your outer arms inward and firm the bases of your index fingers into the floor. Firm your shoulder blades against your back, then spread them away from the spine. Also spread your collarbones away from the sternum.

Step 3

Press your front thighs up toward the ceiling, but resist your tailbone toward the floor as you lengthen it toward the heels. Lift the base of the skull away from the back of the neck and look straight down at the floor, keeping the throat and eyes soft.

Step 4

Plank Pose is one of the positions in the traditional Sun Salutation sequence. You can also perform this pose by itself and stay anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Beginner's Tip

To help strengthen the arms in this pose, loop and secure a strap around your upper arms, just above the elbows. Push the inner arms out against this strap. Release the outer arms from the shoulders to the floor, and lift the inner arms from the bases of the index fingers to the shoulders.

Benefits

Strengthens the arms, wrists, and spine
Tones the abdomen

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Shoulder-Pressing Pose

This arm balance relies more on precise positioning than on strength, making it more accessible for students beginning an arm balancing practice. Shoulder-Pressing Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions Step 1 Squat with your feet a little less than shoulder width apart, knees wide. Step 2 Tilt your torso forward between your inner thighs. Then, keeping your torso low, raise your hips until your thighs become close to parallel to the floor. Step 3 Snug your upper left arm and shoulder as much as possible under the back of your left thigh just above the knee, and place your left hand on the floor at the outside edge of your left foot, fingers pointing forward. Then repeat on the right. As you do this your upper back will round. Step 4 Press your inner hands firmly against the floor and slowly begin to rock your weight back, off your feet and onto your hands. As you straighten your arms, your feet will lift lightly off floor, not by raw strength but by ...

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Four-Limbed Staff Pose

Learn four-limbed staff pose because it is frequently practiced as part of the traditional Sun Salutation sequence. Four-Limbed Staff Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions Step 1 Perform Adho Mukha Svanasana, then Plank Pose. Firm your shoulder blades against your back ribs and press your tailbone toward your pubis. Step 2 With an exhalation slowly lower your torso and legs to a few inches above and parallel to the floor. There's a tendency in this pose for the lower back to sway toward the floor and the tailbone to poke up toward the ceiling. Throughout your stay in this position, keep the tailbone firmly in place and the legs very active and turned slightly inward. Draw the pubis toward the navel. Step 3 Keep the space between the shoulder blades broad. Don't let the elbows splay out to the sides; hold them in by the sides of the torso and push them back toward the heels. Press the bases of the index fingers firmly to the floor. Lift the top of the ster...

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Supine Pigeon/Supta Kapotāsana yoga pose

Supine Pigeon/Supta Kapotāsana(Yoga pose) Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Cross your left foot over your right quad. Lift your right leg off the floor. Grab onto the back of your right leg and gently pull it toward your chest. When you feel a comfortable stretch, hold there. Hold for at least 5 breaths and then repeat on the other side. Stretches the outer hip (abductor) muscles, including the gluteus medius.

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