Yoga: Crow – Instructions and Tips for Bakasana

The crow is probably one of the most popular yoga poses – after all, it is an impressive yet beginner-level: arm balance asana that is friendly to the inside. We will show you how to succeed in Bakasana with different variations.

In Bakasana you bring your entire body weight onto your arms, and yet you do not have to be a handstand professional for this yoga pose, as the most important thing in the yoga crow is the correct alignment of your body. Here you will find all the tips and information you need for the asana.

The crow in yoga: general information

Not only is the crow a photogenic asana, but it also feels impressive. Therefore, every yogi should have tried the pose once. But many like to rush it and overlook it the most important basics:

• The crow is an arm balance pose in which you bring your knees onto your upper arms and shift all of your body weight onto your hands.
• Before you can load your arms and hands with your full body weight in yoga, you have to do yours Warm up the wrist, arm and shoulder joints well. You should therefore always start with some stretching and mobilization exercises. For example, you can rotate your wrists and arms, bring your palms together and thus stretch the back of your wrists. The sun salutation is also a good warm up.
• The be-all and end-all of balance poses is this correct alignment of your body: In this case, your elbows should be just above your wrists to direct the weight straight down toward the floor. If the alignment is correct, you don’t need that much muscle power.
• It is equally important that you create a large contact area with your palms. To do this, you should spread your fingers wide and anchor yourself well in the ground with the roots of your hands and fingertips. This is how you relieve your wrists. The middle fingers of both hands should be parallel.
• Do not let yourself fall into the pose, but actively push yourself away from the floor. To do this, also tense your abdominal and chest muscles.
• Be careful not to bend your arms too much. You should also avoid pulling your shoulders towards your ears. Instead, squeeze your armpits together – like you’re trying to crush an orange in your armpits.

Positive effects of the crow:

• strengthens the forearms and upper arms, abdominal muscles as well as hands and fingers
• stretches the upper back
• increases that Self-confidence and willpower as you face the fear of falling and leave your comfort zone
• promotes balance and the concentration

Danger: As always in yoga, you should be careful with yourself and your body. Know and accept your limits. Also, do not do this asana if you have injuries or pain in your wrists or if you have high blood pressure. Pregnant women should also avoid the crows.

Bakasana: The full version of the crow

First, let’s look at the full version of the crow to understand proper body alignment. If you dare to try this asana for the first time, you should start with the variations below, step by step.

For the full version, do the following:

1. Place your hands shoulder-width apart, spread your fingers and anchor yourself firmly to the ground.
2. Bend your arms.
3. Place your knees as high up on your upper arms as possible, preferably directly on your armpits. To do this, it can help to tiptoe so that you can raise your knees further.
4. Slowly shift your weight forward on your arms, gradually lifting your feet off the floor. Breathe in while doing this.
5. Keep bending your legs and pulling your feet towards your buttocks as you point your toes.
6. Your gaze rests on one point on the floor. You push yourself firmly away from the floor with your hands while your abs and chest muscles are activated. Breathe calmly and evenly, and stay here for a few breaths.
7. To get off the crow, lower your legs just as slowly and evenly to the ground while shifting your weight back a little. You breathe out.
8. To relax, you can then take a few breaths in the child’s position.

Step by step into the crow – variation 1

If you find it difficult to lift your legs off the floor at first, you can start with the following exercise. This will help you to get a feel for the crow and gradually train the necessary muscles:

1. Place your hands shoulder-width apart, spread your fingers and anchor yourself firmly to the ground.
2. Bend your arms.
3. Bring your knees as high up as possible on your upper arms towards your armpits. You can do this on tiptoe.
4. Now slowly shift your body weight a little forward onto your arms while keeping your feet on the ground.
5. Now slowly lift your left foot off the floor while keeping your right foot on the floor. If this is easy for you, you can tiptoe with your right foot until your big toe is in contact with the ground.
6. Then repeat the exercise on the other side.

If this exercise is easy for you, you will be ready to gradually lift both feet off the floor. Always do this carefully and slowly, otherwise you could lose your balance and fall over. To be on the safe side, you can put a pillow or blanket on the floor in front of you so that you can land softly in an emergency.

Crow for Beginners: Variation 2 of the Yoga Pose

Another beginner-friendly modification of the crow is to position your knees at the sides of your arms and instead place your thighs on your upper arms:

1. To do this, place your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor, spread your fingers and anchor yourself in the floor.
2. Bend your arms.
3. Place the inner thighs on your upper arms, keeping your feet together.
4. Slowly shift your weight forward on your arms as you gradually lift your feet off the floor while inhaling. Make sure to keep your feet together.
5. Find your balance point, focus your gaze on the floor, and hold the pose for a few controlled, steady breaths.
6. To get out of the pose, slowly shift your weight back a little and bring your feet back on the floor as you exhale.

The crane – sophisticated variation of the crow

In addition to the crow, there is also the crane asana, also known as the crane. The names and their Sanskrit translations Bakasana and Kakasana are often interchanged or even used synonymously. The crane can be seen as a variation of the crow and vice versa. The only difference between the two yoga poses: In the crane, your arms are fully extended, while you keep them bent in the crow.

Important: Only perform the variant of the crane if you are already familiar with the full version of the crow and your muscles and joints are well warmed up.

1. Again, place your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor, spread your fingers and anchor yourself firmly in the floor.
2. This time you keep your arms straight.
3. Bring your knees as high as possible on your upper arms – this is particularly important in this variation. It’s best to place your knees right at your armpits. To do this, you should step on tiptoe and lift your buttocks.
4. Gradually shift your weight forward without bending your arms. As you do so, slowly lift your feet off the floor as you inhale.
5. Bend your knees further and bring your feet as close to your buttocks as possible. Point the tips of your feet back and up.
6. Find your balance point, focus your gaze on the floor and breathe calmly and evenly.
7. You leave the pose again by slowly lowering your feet and shifting your weight backwards.

The crow: more advanced tips

If you are already very familiar with arm balance poses and the full version of the crow is easy for you, you can dare to try further variations of the asana:

• You can leave Bakasana directly by jumping backwards with a strong impulse and thus getting into the upper support.
• You can also jump out of the downward facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) directly into Bakasana. But practice this very carefully by first spraying up to just in front of your arms. It is important here to activate the abdominal muscles strongly and to catch your jump before you even reach your arms.
• You can also go straight into the crow from the headstand by bending your legs and placing your knees on your upper arms. Then you push yourself off the floor to raise your head.
• Another variant of the crow is the side crow (Parsva Baksana), in which you bring both legs to one side of your body and stretch them out to the front.
• Probably the most challenging variation of the crow is the one-legged crow (Ekapada Bakasana). Here you release one knee from your arm and stretch your leg upwards, as you can see in the picture.

Read more on Techzle.com:

• Ashtanga Yoga: Information for beginners and those interested
• Yamas: How the yoga ethic ensures peaceful coexistence
• Learning meditation: tips for beginners