Salabhasana (Locust Pose)

<h2> Salabhasana (Locust Pose)</h2>From the word "shalabha" - locust. The pose resembles a locust resting on the ground, hence the name. A brief description of Salabhasana 1. Lie on the floor on the stomach, full length. The face is turned down, the arms stretched back.2. Exhale and raise the head, the chest and the legs simultaneously as high as possible. Neither the palms nor the ribs should touch the floor. Only the abdomen rests on the floor, and it carries the weight of the body.3. Contract the buttocks and stretch the thigh muscles. Extend both straight legs fully, keeping the thighs, knees and ankles together.4. Do not transfer the weight of the body onto the hands; stretch them back instead, so that the muscles of the upper back are brought into play.5. Stay in this position as long as you can, breathing normally.6. At first it is difficult to lift the legs and the chest off the floor at the same time; it becomes easier as the abdominal muscles grow stronger.To ease pain in the lower back, a variation of this pose can be used with success: the legs are bent at the knees, the thighs apart, the shins raised perpendicular to the floor. Then, on an exhalation, the thighs are lifted off the floor and brought together until the knees touch, while the shins remain perpendicular to the floor A detailed description of Salabhasana Have you ever felt as though your body were bending under an invisible weight? At first you want to open your shoulders, straighten up and, with your head held high, set off towards the unknown. But alas! The pull of the earth turns out to be stronger, and, stooping still more, you carry on your way with a listless gait. A sedentary life is the scourge of modern civilisation. Because we are obliged to spend our days in that position, the extensors of the knees (the quadriceps), of the hips (the gluteus maximus and the hamstrings) and of the spine lose their strength and elasticity. The muscles that move the shoulders and the shoulder blades suffer as well.The problem gets worse if you turn your hips outwards as you walk. The knees and the feet turn outwards after them. All of this leads to an uneven distribution of weight and causes compression and pain in the lower back. Fortunately the situation can be put right. By practising asanas we can not only free the joints but also strengthen the muscles. Standing poses, for instance, give strength to the extensors of the knee and hip, and inversions to the shoulders and to the muscles that support the shoulder blades. Salabhasana (Locust Pose), though, is the ideal way to open the chest, strengthen the muscles of the back, and wake up the extensors of the legs and the muscles that rotate the hips inwards.Lie on your stomach and stretch your arms out in front of you. Come into the pose by lifting the arms, the legs and the chest off the floor at the same time. In this position the lower back and the neck arch strongly, so do not lift too high. Lengthen the trunk instead, increasing the distance between the head and the tailbone. Look straight ahead. Now observe what happens in the hips and the lower back. In Salabhasana the hamstrings and the gluteus maximus lift the legs, helping them resist the pull of gravity. At the same time the gluteus maximus and the biceps femoris rotate the thigh outwards, which turns the knees and the feet away from each other. Do not squeeze the buttocks; lift the legs by starting the movement from the upper inner thigh - this will even out the position of the knees and the feet, and will engage the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus, which protect the lower back by extending the hip and rotating it inwards.To learn to extend the hips and rotate them inwards, come onto all fours (ideally side-on to a mirror), the wrists under the shoulder joints and the knees - under the hip joints. Straighten the right leg, placing it in line with the trunk and the pelvis. Lengthen it from the upper inner thigh towards the toes. Make sure it stays parallel to the floor. Draw the tailbone in - this will protect the lower back. Repeat on the other side. Now do the same in Salabhasana. If the pubic bone lifts away from the floor, direct the tailbone towards the floor and lengthen the lower back.For good posture it is very important to strengthen the muscles that run along the spine and hold it upright. Locust Pose does this superbly: we bring these muscles into play when we lift the head, the chest and the arms off the floor. How hard the muscles that straighten the trunk have to work depends on the position of the arms. They can be stretched along the sides (the easy version), out to the sides (harder) or in front of you (the hardest of all). If your back is weak, practise the first variation. Forcing the movement risks straining the muscles of the neck and the lower back, and that is bad for your health. Do not lift the chin too high, and look at the floor in front of you. Once the sternum is off the floor, draw it forward.The work of the arms in Salabhasana also helps to strengthen the rhomboids and the trapezius, which support the shoulder blades. To keep the shoulders from riding up towards the head, draw the shoulder blades down towards the waist while at the same time lifting them up towards the ceiling. Make this movement before you come into the pose if you are stretching the arms along the trunk or out to the sides. Salabhasana is very easy to break down into parts - lifting the legs and the arms in turn, for example. Do not neglect the variations; they will make you stronger and more resilient. And one day you will be astonished to find that you have broken the hitherto unshakeable law of gravity! (Yoga Journal) The effects of practising Salabhasana Salabhasana aids digestion, relieves gastro-intestinal disorders and dispels flatulence. Because the spine is stretched backwards it becomes more flexible, and the pose reduces pain in the sacral and lumbar region. Regular practice of Salabhasana resolves the problem of displaced vertebrae. The pose also has a beneficial effect on the bladder and the prostate gland, restoring their health.