What's up, yogis and wannabe yogis?
Your friend, Adrienne, here with Yoga with Adrienne.
Today, we're going to learn Salabhasana
or the Locust Pose as part of our
Foundations of Yoga series.
This is a great posture for the back,
particularly if you are wanting to
strengthen the lower back. Great for the booty.
Honestly, this is a great full body strengthener.
It's also really great for the nervous system
and the immune system and overall, I think,
a great pose for anxiety and just a good asana
to lift your spirits.
So put on something comfy and hop on the mat,
and let's learn Locust Pose.
(uplifting energetic music)
To begin, we're going to come onto the belly.
Oh yeah.
Taking a second to draw the palms
underneath the shoulders here,
and draw the toes or the heels in line with the hip points.
Great. Then, I'm going to take a second to
loop the shoulders here, forward, up, and back,
and imagine my elbows that are hugging into my
side body are like little grasshopper legs, right? Locusts.
Ah, grasshopper. Little grasshopper legs are pulling back.
Can you tell I come from a kid's yoga background?
It's good for all of us, though.
I'm just taking a second here in a nice little baby backbend
to lengthen through the crown of the head and
find a little lift in the heart. I'm not putting ...
In fact, everyone lift your palms. Foundations of yoga.
Find your foundation. I'm not putting a bunch of weight
into the palms here but I'm just checking in.
Couple of action points, press into the tops of the feet,
press into the pubic bone, so pelvis to the earth.
Roll the shoulders away from the ears and then we already
talked about elbows hugging in and drawing back.
So one more breath here.
(deep breath)
Great. Last point of action here. I'm going to press into
the tops of the feet and try to lift the legs.
I'm pressing into the pelvis, lifting the legs,
just kind of connecting, checking in with that activity.
Then exhale, release.
We'll come onto the right ear here and just rest.
Great. Now, for a Locust variation.
I'm going to send the fingertips back, palms face down.
Eventually, we'll get to palms face up.
I'm going to lift the chin, lift the heart, inhale in.
As you exhale, find that lift again, this time,
using the palms to press up and out of.
Breathe. Now, inhale in again and on your next exhale,
let the legs lift up. Now press into your foundation.
Find that energy between the inner thighs
as if we're hugging them together but I'm still keeping
my heels in line with the hip points for now.
Draw the shoulders away from the ears.
Again, I like to teach this with the fingertips or the palms
pressing up and out of the earth so that
I find that length here in the neck.
(exhales)
Great. One more breath and then exhale, rest, and release.
Come onto the left ear now, opposite ear.
(exhales)
You can shake the hips a little, left to right.
(deep breath)
Beautiful. Inhale, bring it back to center.
Press into the pubic bone so pelvis to the earth.
I'm not clenching in the buttocks here,
so that's why I like pressing into the pelvis because
when we just clench the buttocks and then
we try to lift this, not good for the lower back.
Press the pelvis into the earth,
tuck the chin into the chest as you lift the head.
This time, we're going to inhale in, exhale, lift the legs.
(deep breath)
Beautiful. Now, I can stay here,
working on building strength in the back body and just
full body awareness, or I can inhale in again, and exhale,
flip the palms, send the fingertips towards
the backs of my legs.
(breathing)
Breathing here. Spread the fingertips, spread the toes,
and then exhale, release, right ear to the earth.
Relax, shake the hips a little, left to right.
(deep breath)
Let's check it out again.
Pressing the pelvis into the earth,
I'll bring the head back to center.
This time, we're going to go full on mission impossible
with the exhale. So I'm going to inhale in,
find my integrity, find my foundation.
And on an exhale, lift.
(exhales)
Breathe. Traditionally, we turn the palms face up
but as a beginner, I actually like palms down
because I remember pressing up and out of the earth
to find that extension. Breathing here.
(breathing)
And on an exhale, we release left ear to the earth.
Shake the hips, soften everything.
(deep breath)
One more little variation for fun to close it out.
Press the pelvis in, press into the tops of the feet,
lift the head.
This time, I'm going to inhale in, exhale, lift the legs,
and then I'm going to crawl my fingertips behind the ears
and reach the arms forward as I hover.
Inhale, lift and lengthen, and exhale.
(exhales)
Inhale.
And exhale.
Spread the fingertips and toes, pressing into the pelvis.
(deep breath)
One more breath. We might draw a line with the nose.
Just look forward slightly, careful not to crunch here.
On an exhale, we release,
palms come underneath the shoulders here and we counteract.
Coming up to all fours, walk the knees in
towards the center line, bring the belly to the thighs.
Sink it back into Balasana.
Three to five breaths here.
(inhale)
Breathing into the back body.
(deep breaths)
Sweet. Then we'll tuck the chin into the chest
and slowly roll her up.
All right. That was the foundations of Locust Pose,
or Salabhasana. As I said before, it's a great posture
to just lift your spirits, give the body a little
energetic cleanse, great for the lower back.
We'll talk more about the benefits of this posture
over on the website.
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That's the deal, right?
Okay. Love you guys. Leave questions, comments below,
and we'll see you next time. Namaste.
(uplifting energetic music)