Locust Pose Yoga (Salabhasana) | Yoga Sequences, Benefits, Variations, and Sanskrit Pronunciation | Tummee.com (2024)

The practice of Locust Pose a prone back bending practice comes with many benefits, and these are explained below:

1. Stretches, Strengthens, Lengthens: From Reverse Corpse Pose Head Sideways, when the student lifts the body off the floor, the muscles at the spine, core, legs, hips, and upper torso are engaged. Locust Pose (Salabhasana) stretches the quadriceps, hamstrings, psoas ,ankles, and shin muscles. It strengthens the knees and the lower back. It helps in toning the glutes and the thighs. The pressure on the abdomen tones the muscles and helps in burning belly fat. The student may feel this posture requires a full-body effort however the pressure is felt most significantly at the lower back. A body with weak shoulders will not be able to lift the legs, hence one needs to have strength at the shoulders, arms, and forearms to the legs. There will also be a noticeable stretch of the core and the entire back of the body that will help keep the spine flexible and strengthen the back.
2. Flexibility and Range of Motion: The strengthening of the lower and mid-back coupled with the toning of the legs enhances the strength in these areas, which is beneficial for agility. This pose has a moderate backbend and is achievable due to the prone positioning. The overall stretch strengthens the joints and enhances muscular flexibility. With time, the student can progress from Locust Pose to other poses like Locust Pose Hands Behind Head, Locust Pose Bound Hands, and similar poses.
3. Chest, Diaphragm, and Breath: It’s known that breathing is one of the most important elements of the Locust Pose and the teacher should always advise their students to take a deep inhalation to come into the pose. Though this pose is a chest opener, there is a constriction because the lower chest is under pressure. The backbend opens the upper and mid-back with the adduction of shoulder blades. This action helps in breathing. The diaphragm is toned and fortified in this pose. When this pose is held with breath awareness for some time, the heart rate increases, giving a cardio workout effect.
4. Awareness and Focus (Concentration): The student lifts the upper and lower body together in this pose on an inhale. This breath awareness makes it easy to align to the pose. The balanceneeded in the pose is achieved by breath consciousness and core strength.
5. Alignment and Posture: Locust Pose is a common backbend practice that when achieved prepares the back, core, shoulders, chest, legs, and arms for more challenging poses that demand strength in the entire body. Practicing this pose regularly will teach you the correct alignment necessary to deepen your backbends with ease. However, to gain this kind of strength it is also important to have awareness, not just the breath, but how the various parts of the body remain in sync with each other. For example, focusing on aligning the hips by having them externally rotated, equally, having the shoulders engaged equally by bringing the shoulder blades close to each other, aligning the feet to the hips, hips to shoulders, and finally the head to the shoulders. Together these finer points of the pose help the body to remain stable and strong. And with time the stability helps to hold the posture longer, gaining better strength as you progress in the practice. This eventually helps in having a toned body by removing excess fat around the hips, buttocks, core, legs, and chest.
6. Energizing, De-stressing, Relaxing: Locust Pose is a beautiful full-body energizer movement that helps to calm the mind completely while narrowing the focus for a few breaths. One of the most unique characteristics of this practice is the extent to which the pelvis is braced. It helps as an immediate positive energy booster, leaving a much-balanced state of mind. It removes the stiffness around the lower back, legs, and neck. Due to the symmetrical body extension, the joints and the muscular tensions from the fingertips to the toes are released. Additionally, it helps in stimulating the autonomic nervous system, particularly the parasympathetic regions in the neck and pelvis which helps in relieving stress. Post the practice of this pose the student feels energetic, relaxed, and light.
7. Stimulation and Organs / Circulation and Systems: This pose stimulates the digestive organs and the thyroid glands. Due to the pressure on the abdomen, the core and the lumbar spine are strengthened. The full-body stretch enhances blood circulation evenly to the whole body. Due to the neck stretch, the thyroid glands are activated. It balances thyroxine production, and this hormone is responsible for the efficient functioning of the reproductive system and the good health of the bones and joints. The main benefit of this pose is the activation of the parasympathetic nerves situated in the lower back. This pose calms the brain activity and the nervous system.
8. Therapeutic, Healing and Ailments: Locust Pose (Salabhasana) is therapeutic and yoga teachers use this pose to treat diabetes, thyroid imbalance, osteoporosis, and lower back pain. Therapeutic benefits like curing mild sciatica, constipation, and flatulence are achieved with this pose. As a lot of pressure is put on the lower abdomen, women with menstrual disorders can practice this asana to help in the proper functioning of the organs. It helps cure irregular period syndrome and painful period issues.
9. Balance and Emotions: This pose stimulates the Solar Plexus(Manipura), Sacral (Swadisthana), and Root (Muladhara) Chakras. These three base chakras create balance, stability, creativity, and emotions. This is good for personality growth. The Throat (Vishuddha Chakra) and Heart (Anahata Chakra) are stimulated which makes a person become confident, generous and develop clarity in communication.
10. Others: This flow can be practiced by adults, teens, women, athletes, and swimmers. It gives swimmers the strength to tone their muscles and back, benefitting their swimming. Deep ocean divers benefit from this pose. This pose makes the student accustomed to the breath balance with a constriction in the chest, and this is an important requirement underwater.
11. Preparatory Pose: Locust Pose (Salabhasana) is a preparatory pose to all back bending asanas as it helps to strengthen the core and the lower back which are foundational.

The practice of Locust Pose comes with some precautions to keep in mind before introducing or during the teachings of this pose. These are as follows:

1. Injury and Surgery: Students with injuries at the ankles, knees, hips, pelvis, rib cage, or shoulders must be discouraged from the practice of this pose. Students who have undergone recent surgery or have had surgery years back related to any part of the body, like ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, spine, or related to any abdominal organs or the heart, then they should take extra precautions or just avoid the practice, as the case may be.
2. Lack of Body-Breath Connections: Students should have awareness and knowledge of breath coordination while going into and coming out of the pose. Mention the reasons why this is essential (one is to avoid injury or strain).
3. Physical Strength and Weak Body: Students with severe sciatica may be in discomfort when they get into this pose since it tightens the entire body from the hip to the feet. Someone with significant problems with menstruation or with a prolapsed uterus should avoid this practice as the pressure on the abdomen can prove to be harmful. Though there is a heart opening, the prone position puts pressure on the abdomen and the chest, which is not suitable for asthmatic people. Students with peptic ulcers should avoid this pose due to abdominal pressure. blood pressure have to practice it with watchfulness. The gentle chin pressure creates pressure on the main arteries near the neck. They can do it for short intervals according to capacity. Heart patients should not practice this asana at all. Patients with abdominal hernias and peptic ulcers should not practice this flow, since the muscles are weak for them, and it can lead to inversions or dislocations.
4. Others: Pregnant women should be discouraged from the practice of this flow as it demands a prone position, and it is not advisable for the womb and the fetus. Post natal women need to avoid for the initial 4 weeks after childbirth, and senior citizens need to avoid this flow to avert injuries in the hips, pelvis, or rib cage.

Given below are the step-by-step instructions to follow for the practice of Locust Pose:

1. Firstly align on the mat in a prone position: Reverse Corpse Pose (Advasana). Keeping the body relaxed prepares the mind for the flow.
2. Here, align the hands behind close to the body, with the palms facing the ceiling. Stay here for a couple of breaths with the forehead resting on the mat.
3. From here, inhale and raise both legs from the waist. Keep the legs a little apart and knees straight at about 40 degrees from the floor or as per your comfort. The lower body is raised from the pelvic area and balanced on the upper abdomen. Simultaneously lift the torso and the chin from the floor, keeping the head engaged. Extend the arms behind close to the body. Exhale. The feet are above the mat. Exhale.
4. Stay in the pose as per capacity. The breath is short due to chest constriction, but breath awareness helps the student stay in the pose. There is a tendency to hold your breath in this pose, which the student should avoid.
5. Release and relax to Crocodile Pose (Makarasana).

Learn more: Locust Pose Steps

A few modifications that can be done in this pose are explained below:

• To avoid any pressure during this pose on the lower abdomen, you could keep a blanket below the pelvic area. Make sure the blanket is not slippery.
• If raising the legs too high brings discomfort to the lower back, you could start with raising just a bit that works comfortably for you and then with repeated practice bring it higher.
• If balancing the body on the chin brings pressure to the neck and throat, you could place the forehead on the floor or even a small blanket below the chin or forehead, to begin with.
• You could place the palms below the thighs to help support the legs and thighs to be raised up. But make sure you don't injure the wrists while balancing the body on the arms.

Thus with these small modifications the asana can still be enjoyed getting the stretch needed.

Like most poses, we can move into Salabhasana after a few preparatory poses are practiced. The flow of the body from one asana to another should help in getting into the main asana and this can be followed as a structured sequence. In this case, we can categorize this sequence as under:

• Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend): Seated in Dandasana with legs stretched in front, raise your arms above your head with inhalation. As you exhale bring the upper body forward, reach for the toes with the stretched arms, and bring the forehead close to the knees. Exhale completely and remain here with deep breathing. This stretch of the lower back in the seated pose will help in opening up the stress in and around the lower back and hips thus acting as a preparatory pose before Salabhasana.
• Baddha Konasana Uttanasana (Bound Angle Forward Bend): Acting as a good inner thigh opener and also as a hip opener, this pose does become an essential part of the Preparatory Pose. Seated with feet placed on the floor in Namaste close to your pelvic area, raise your hands with inhalation and go forward with chest and chin down to aim for the floor. Exhale completely with arms stretched in front on the floor. This pose puts pressure on the inner thighs and hip and does a gradual expansion of the muscles of the lower back.
• Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose): Coming into the prone position, the first backbend is the Cobra Pose. In this pose the upper body is raised upwards with the chest and face of the floor with the support of the palms placed on the floor placed close to your chest. The gradual opening of the upper shoulders and the middle back will support during the Pose in Salabhasana.

A few stretches of the neck, shoulders, lower back, and hips while standing can be considered before you go into the seated pose. One can also start with a few rounds of Suryanamaskar if the body is completely stiff. Thus, based on the level of the student's flexibility, the preparatory pose can be altered. Someone who is already in the Intermediate Level can directly start with Downward Facing Dog Pose to work on the legs and back and start with Salabhasana.

In this particular Asana, breathing can be difficult but can be achieved with concentration. Surely with pressure on the chest and abdominal area, breathing is an art here.

1. While lying down in Makarasana, relax the spine here with slow breathing connecting every exhalation with the movement of the spine.
2. Now place the chin on the floor and with arms placed below the upper thighs or close to the sides of the body, inhale and raise the entire lower body upwards at an inclined position. Exhale completely here holding on to the pose and balancing the body on the chin and chest.
3. Ensure the feet are together and remain in this pose with slow breathing. Initially breathing may cause the body to move and shiver, but with practice, by calming the body the breathing can be controlled and so can the body.
4. With every inhalation raise the legs higher and put pressure on the lower back and pick the body from the floor.
5. Now after a few slow breaths, bring the body slowly down with exhalation and release the chin. Remove the hands and place them on the outside close to your body and relax.
6. Relax back into Makarasana and begin breathing, connecting the breath with the contraction of the spine.
7. After a few relaxing breaths you could go back into the pose.

Please click on the link below to listen to Sanskrit pronunciation of Locust Pose:
Play Sanskrit audio pronunciation for Salabhasana