Ermm, so I was super stoked to find out that people were actually inspired to try Halasana after I posted about it on insta, but also reminded that I said I’d do a post about how to do it..... and then the World Cup quarter and semi finals happened...... so, better late than never, right??
For anyone that missed the post, context is this.....I love halasana, but having been focusing on other parts of my home practice I realised I’d been leaving it out and my body was really starting to feel it. I was waking up with a stiff and painful back which I was carrying with me throughout the day and couldn’t seem to shake. Turns out I just needed the intense stretchy goodness that is halasana back in my life. So, thought I’d share my love and hopefully inspire some peeps to give it a go.
How to Halasana
I always do it as part of my final sequence sandwiched between shoulder stand and the opposing fish pose. This gives me one final push before closing things down at the end of my practice. I find it is quite intense but in a very slow and static way, so it really helps me to bring everything down a notch and turn the focus inwards before I take my final meditation in corpse pose (savasana). But really, you can do it however the hell, or whenever the hell you want! But for the purpose of how my brain works I’ll explain it in this sequence.
Benefits
There are many benefits listed for Halasana but I’m not the kind of person who takes a list of benefits online at face value. Unless I can find a good enough biological or physiological explanation for each benefit (which isn’t often given) I won’t tell others as fact. So here I will list the benefits I find myself or have found to make sense to me:
- It provides a really intense stretch all the way through the back muscles and along the spine, from the top of the neck to the tail bone to help stretch out the muscles and relieve tension and pain
- The front of the body gets compressed. While you keep breathing deeply the diaphragm and lungs continue to expand and relax giving all the internal organs in the lower part of the body (mainly the digestive system) a really good massage to activate
- It is said to have a calming effect on the sympathetic nervous system (the system responsible for fight or flight)
- It brings the focus inwards. To start with this can feel almost claustrophobic slightly but if you breathe into it to keep yourself calm and let yourself accept it, it is definitely worth it, and this feeling will soon subside.
I’m sold already….. how do I do it?
1) Start laying on your back on your mat with your hands down by your side, palms facing down
2) Engage your tummy and core muscles and lift your legs up into the air above you, followed by your hips
3) Use your hands to steady you and keep your head straight as you gently move the weight, with control to the right to give you a bit of space to roll on top of your left shoulder, and then to the left to roll higher onto your right shoulder, opening the chest and drawing the shoulder blades closer together
4) Rest on the top of the arms and shoulders with your elbows as close together as you can (parallel to one another) and bring your hands to your lower back for support
5) Hold in shoulder stand for a few breaths, enjoying all the benefits of turning your world and body upside down for a bit
6) When you’re ready take your feet over your head, bend at the knees and bring your knees down towards your forehead
7) If your feet don’t touch the floor behind your head, keep the knees to the forehead and the hands supporting the back. If your feet do reach the floor, start to work at straightening the legs. If it is comfortable, you can release the hands from the lower back and take them back down behind you, clasping the hands together on the mat
8) Breathe here, let go, try and relax and let the muscles in your back stretch out. If there is too much pressure on the back of the neck, take it back a step
9) Once the back starts to release, you can bring the knees either side of the ears and squeeze, shutting out the sounds of the world around you and bringing the focus in
10) When you’re ready to come down, start to lift your feet, engage the core and take the arms out long behind you on the mat to create support and a track for you to gently, with control, roll your back down onto the mat. Bring the legs back over and down, returning to the start position.
So, there you have it!! Any questions give me a shout and click here for the video demo
Peace and love peeps x