I've decided to share the different types of yoga arm balancing poses I know. Each day I'll share pictures of the pose with a short description and I'll rank difficulty level for me--1 being easy and 10 being I can barely do the pose. The first pose I'll introduce is called crane pose or "bakasana" in sanskrit. Crane is one of the more basic arm balances but this version is a bit harder (maybe a difficulty level 3 for me with my arms straight and my shins parallel to the floor). This version requires a bit more core strength than crow pose which I've shown after the pictures of crane.

CRANE POSE

Crane is a harder expression of the pose as you can see my arms are straight, my knees are way up on my triceps and my abs are engaged to hold my legs this high. There's definitely a balancing point here as I'm slightly leaned forward. Center of gravity is a little different for everyone so the pose could look slightly different based on body type.

The next version I'll show is a little easier because you bend your arms to provide kind of a shelf with your triceps to put your shins / knees on.

CROW POSE

This version I'd say is level 1 difficulty for me as it was the first arm balance I learned. It requires much less core strength. If you wish to try this pose for the first time maybe do it in front of a couch so if you fall forward you won't face plant. That or leave one foot on the ground and play around with briefly lifting that foot until you can hold the pose without your foot down.

I'm excited about sharing all the arm balances I've learned over the years and after I show each one of those I'll probably start a series of headstands and then more complicated combinations of things. I hope you all will enjoy my series! I can do some pretty cool stuff.

Namaste