Imagine hanging your FEET OFF THE GROUND, FEELING WEIGHTLESS, and suddenly your shoulders start aching. Ouch, why do your muscles get stiff instead of relaxing? Perhaps the wrong selection of arm balance yoga poses left you under the weather.
Factually, practicing with the arm balance poses helps build core stability and upper body strength, besides cultivating focus and confidence. But at the same time, these challenging poses demand a fine combo of strength, balance, and concentration.
Moreover, arm balancing yoga styles like side planks and cow pose are beginner-friendly, while others like flying pigeon and firefly suit experienced yogis well. Let’s explore the techniques, variations, and essential modifications to practice the most popular yoga poses. So, roll out your yoga mat, relax with a deep breath, and join us to practice for flexibility and strength!
Benefits of Practicing Arm Balance Yoga Poses
Though arm balance yoga poses are challenging and require a fine investment of strength, focus, and stability for practice, these have unique benefits also. If you are a core muscle sufferer like me, you can help your body with these natural therapies.
But remember, I always exercised with different arm balancing poses under the supervision of my trainer, and I shall suggest you, too, practice under proper supervision. If done correctly, regularly, and with utmost focus, the arm balance poses can help all levels of yogis with these benefits;
- The core muscle is the major muscle group in almost all arm balance poses. So, a solid routine will build core strength, thus relieving back pain and improving posture.
- It helps in ironing the upper body parts like the shoulders, arms, and chest. I love this benefit, as it helps me quickly let my little ones on my back.
- Regular practice with the arm balance poses sharpens the power of focus and mental balance.
- The improved focus, enhanced mind-body coordination, and great establishment aid in building the rock of self-confidence.
Arm Balance Poses for Beginners
Arm balance yoga is a NATURAL THERAPY that’s also beneficial for mental and emotional well-being besides the physical benefits. And the beginner poses are like a platform to get an initiative with this journey. Here are the 5 best beginner arm-balance poses; let’s see who should go for each!
Crow Pose (Bakasana)
Also known as Bakasana, the crow pose is the base of the arm balance pose that mainly builds the strength of the arms, wrists, and core muscles. This pose involves balancing the whole body on the hands while the knees of the yogi rest on the upper arms back.
Pros: Improves arm strength, builds core muscle strength, promotes balance and focus, and increases confidence.
Cons: May cause wrist pain or strains in beginners who don’t hire a trainer.
Side Crow Pose (Parsva Bakasana)
This pose is also famous as Parsva Bakasana and is a version of Crow Pose involving some twisting the torso to one side besides balancing on the hands. This pose’s primary focus is improving coordination and balance, besides building the strength of the arms, core, and obliques.
Pros: Improved coordination, strengthens the arms and core muscles, aids digestion
Cons: May cause shoulder tension if one ignores the rules.
Firefly Pose (Tittibhasana)
Also famous for the name Tittibhasana, the firefly is a relatively advanced arm balance yoga pose. To perform it, lift the body off the ground with the legs straight, spread wide, and plant your hands on the ground in front of the feet.
Pros: Builds hip flexibility, promotes shoulder strength, and improves balance and focus.
Cons: Challenging for beginners and may cause wrist pain.
Eight-Angle Pose (Astavakrasana)
Here comes my favorite pose that I always perform to strengthen my hamstrings and hips. The eight-angle pose has another name, Astavakrasana, and involves balancing the body on hands, twisting the legs to either side and bending the knees.
Pros: Builds flexibility in the hips and hamstrings, improves balance, and builds core muscle strength.
Cons: Simply tough and even harmful if performed wrongly.
Elephant’s Trunk Pose (Eka Hasta Bhujasana)
Elephant’s Trunk Pose, or Eka Hasta Bhujasana, is a mid-level pose. Performing this yoga style involves bending one arm, placing it underneath the body, and extending the other straight up in the air.
Pros: Strengthens the chest, improves the shoulders’ posture and power, and builds coordinationCons: Requires special care, as any wrong move may result in the stiff chest or shoulder muscles.
Intermediate and Advanced Arm Balance Poses
So, you have mastered the initial techniques and skills to practice the arm balance yoga poses to say hello to the advanced-level styles. Under this category fall these important but highly challenging yoga styles that will require higher flexibility, muscular power, and concentration;
Please Note that training any yoga style with the instructions and feedback of expert yoga trainers will not only prevent severe injuries but will also add to the overall benefits.
Flying Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Galavasana)
Until now, you have climbed up a step to practice the advanced flying pigeon pose; a next-level arm balance pose for yogis with some skills and starter-level experience. Exercising with this pose is relatively easy; simply start in the Downward Facing Dog pose, raise one leg high, bring your knee of the raised leg toward the outside of the same-side tricep, and try leaning forward, holding the lifted leg on the upper arm. Now shift your weight forward, lift your back foot off the ground, and extend the lifted leg behind you.
Pros: Improves the core, arms, and shoulders’ strength; builds mental focus
Cons: Difficult for yogis with a weaker upper body or poor flexibility.
Grasshopper Pose (Maksikanagasana)
The Grasshopper arm balance pose is my favorite from the family of advanced arm balancing poses, as it’s a supporting exercise to build hips and hamstrings flexibility. It involves starting seated with bent legs, taking one arm under the corresponding leg, bringing the opposite leg up, and resting the ankle on the opposite elbow. Then place both hands on the ground with lifted hips, balancing on the arms.
Pros: Promotes core and arms strength, improving hips and hamstrings mobility.
Cons: Difficult for individuals with average core muscle strength.
Peacock Pose (Mayurasana)
This pose relieves stress and strain on the shoulder and arm muscles. To exercise this pose, start seated with bent knees, place your hands on the ground before you, let your elbows rest on the abdomen, and lean forward with your feet lifted off the ground. Now straighten your arms with your legs extended behind you.
Pros: Builds lower back strength, improves body posture, and builds shoulder strength.
Cons: Not suitable for individuals suffering from ankle soreness or back pain.
Scorpion Pose (Vrschikasana)
The scorpion arm balance yoga pose is excellent for those looking to build the strength of their torso, arms, and back muscles. It involves starting in a forearm plank position, lifting the hips, bringing legs over your head, and bending the knees with feet and toes pointing to the head. Stretching the arm can modify the pose, making it easy like pie.
Pros: Scorpion Pose strengthens the core, torso, back arms, and shoulder muscles and improves blood circulation.
Cons: Difficult to practice with shoulder pain or weaker arm strength.
Handstand Pose (Adho Mukha Vrksasana)
Handstand is the last but not least arm balance yoga pose in our list that mainly focuses on mental wellness and overall body muscles’ flexibility. One can practice this challenging pose by starting in Downward Facing Dog, walking your feet toward the hand on the floor, shoulder-width apart. Then lift one of your legs high, kick the raised leg toward the roof, and extend the other to join it.
Pros: Improves the reverse blood circulation to feed the mind, builds neck strength, and improves the mobility of arms.
Cons: May cause neck injury if practiced without proper training.
Precautions to Practice Arm Balance Poses
It’s a fact that arm balance poses for yoga accompany lots of benefits but may also welcome some high risks like injuries. However, some preventive tips can prove supportive of practicing these poses safely, and some such considerations are listed here;
- Warming up before any yoga pose will enhance the blood flow, making the body ready to bear the complicated moves.
- Never start on your own; instead, go for the guidance of a well-trained and experienced yoga instructor.
- The arm balance yoga poses are not for individuals suffering from wrist, arm, or shoulder muscle injuries or any other severe defect.
- Always listen to your body and be patient; no one can gain all the benefits in a SINGLE DAY.
- Modify the pose per your body structure, muscular strength, and concentration level.
- Props and backing off are great ways to prevent injuries, so try benefiting from them.
Conclusion
When one knows his limitations, builds enough flexibility and muscular strength, and gets guidance from a qualified yoga instructor, the arm balance yoga poses can do miracles for him. Notably, individuals suffering from severe headaches due to poor focus and looking to build the arm, wrist, and other athletic strengths can benefit from all the beginner and advanced-level arm balance yoga styles.
Moreover, the beauty of the arm balance poses of yoga is that these can be modified as per body requirements, like most other types. So, what are you waiting for? Roll out your yoga mat now and practice with any of the above styles that best soothe your body!
FAQs
Is chaturanga an arm balance?
Though the chaturanga yoga pose does not require a significant share of upper body strength, it’s still considered an arm balance. Basically, it’s a transitional pose shifting between the cobra pose and planks, mainly involving lowering the body to hover just above the floor with the arms bent at a 90-degree angle, but the feet are still on the floor.
What are the benefits of arm balances in yoga?
Arm balance yoga brings many benefits if performed properly and with the instructor’s proper guidance of instructors, such as high core strength, body flexibility, increased arm and upper body strength, enhanced self-confidence, and so on.
What is the hardest arm balance?
Deciding between the hardest arm balance poses is challenging and depends on the yogi’s experience level, skill set, muscular strength, and flexibility. However, some more challenging arm balances that demand high body strength, special focus, and greater experience involve Visvamitrasana, Eka Pada Koundinyasana II, and Pincha Mayurasana.