Featured Pose: Eagle Variations
Our February Focus is Eagle Pose (Garudasana) as we explore the theme Compassion. I like to think of Eagle Pose as a self-hug... and it is so much more! Strengthening, stabilizing, focus building, shoulder & back-of-heart opening, and, as it opens the back of the torso, it can be helpful for those with lower back pain and sciatica.
Eagle Pose and a few of its myriad of variations are explored in these photos of Keelie at the Huron studio.
1. Eagle Pose: Full Variation. Arms bound so that palms touch. Legs wrapped so that the top of the bound foot tucks behind the standing leg. Stabilize this pose by grounding through the standing foot, squeezing the legs together, tucking the tail bone slightly and compacting through the front of the pelvis. (Solidity in the core is essential for standing balance poses.)
The next two images explore leg modifications.
2. Eagle Pose: Kickstand Variation. Arms bound, toes of the wrapping leg touch the floor for stability. This accessible variation offers extra stability through the legs which allows the practitioner to stabilize the core and focus on the arms without the added challenge of balance.
3. Eagle Pose: Lifted Leg Variation. Wrapping leg lifts to challenge balance, but does not tuck behind standing leg.
Men especially can have particular difficult with Eagle Pose in the upper body. The three following variations are arm modifications.
4. Eagle Pose: Hooked Finger Variation. If you cannot bring your palms flat together, hook the thumb and fingers.
5. Eagle Pose: Self-Hug Arm Variation. Arms cross and wrap around the back, grasp and gently pull the shoulder blades apart.
6. Eagle Pose: Stacked Arms Modification. Lift the elbows to deepen into the upper back.
The following two images are fun variations for deeper exploration.
7. Eagle Pose : Seated Modification. Cow-faced legs with eagle arms. Lift the elbows and pull the shoulder blades onto the back for a nice stretch across the tops of the shoulders, then release the elbows down and bow forward, letting the weight of the arms pull the shoulder blades apart behind the back.
8. Eagle Pose: Inverted. Eagle legs can be done in shoulder stand or headstand to add variety and a host of benefits to your inversions. Squeeze the legs in toward the mid-line.
