Yoga Is For Everybody? Not Quite...

This 2-minute quiz shows you if yoga is for you. Or what you should do instead.

How To Do Twisted One-Legged Arm Balance Pose

Yoga | Yoga Poses

Twisted One-Legged Arm Balance pose or Eka Pada Koundinyasana I — also known as Pose Dedicated to the Sage Koundinya — is a challenging twisted arm balance that’s kind of like graduating from Side Crow in the school of arm balancing. If you feel comfortable in Side Crow, chances are you’ll be able to manage Twisted One-Legged Arm Balance pose quite well! The trick is to extend out through your legs as actively as possible, almost as if you’re stretching your body taut. As a fledgling flyer, give yourself permission to fall so that you can pick yourself up bigger and better than before!

Benefits Of Twisted One-Legged Arm Balance Pose

Twisted One-Legged Arm Balance Ppose strengthens the arms, wrists and shoulders, and tones the core. The deep twisting action also helps to promote detoxification of the body and vitalizes the spine. Approach this pose with caution if you have any wrist issues or injuries.

Twisted One-Legged Arm Balance Pose Step-By-Step

  1. Begin by coming into Side Crow pose (Parsva Bakasana), ensuring that you can move deeply into the twist and get the outer thigh high up the upper arm.
  2. From Side Crow pose, simultaneously extend your bottom leg to the side while taking the top leg up and back. Keep the core engaged and the low belly in.
  3. Straighten the legs and reach out actively through the balls of both feet, energetically finding length along the legs.
  4. Keep the gaze forward and the shoulders level with one another.
  5. Hold the pose for up to 5 full breaths, then gently lower your feet on an exhale. Repeat on the other side whenever you feel ready.

Tips:

  • The more actively that you extend out of both legs, the more stability you’ll find in the pose; keeping the gaze focused on one fixed point will assist with balance and concentration.
  • You can also experiment with coming into the pose from Downward-Facing Dog by bending one knee and taking it across the body to the opposite tricep, then bending the elbows back into a Chaturanga arm and lifting the foot off the floor.
  • If balance feels difficult, try taking a bolster or some blocks underneath the back leg.
  • Just like Side Crow, there are two options for balancing this pose — using both arms as a “shelf” for the hips, or using one arm as the balance point. While using both arms requires a deeper twisting action in the torso, using one arm requires more upper body strength. Play around and figure out where feels like the most appropriate place for you to begin.

Featured in New York Magazine, The Guardian, and The Washington Post
Featured in the Huffington Post, USA Today, and VOGUE

Made with ♥ on planet earth.

Copy link
Powered by Social Snap