Nagas: Snake; Cobra
Asana: Pose
Maksikanagasana at a Glance
Maksikanagasana: This pose is also known as the Dragon pose, and combines strength and balance with your mindful breath flow. This resembles the baby grasshopper pose, but Maksikanagasana is a more challenging, asymmetrical twist pose. This is also part of the core yoga sequences and is sometimes also known as the grasshopper pose or hummingbird pose.
Benefits:
- Dragonfly pose helps to strengthen and stretch your arms, back, wrists, and hips.
- It also strengthens your, core, shoulders, and legs.
- Tones your legs and abdominal muscles.
- It helps to stimulate the reproductive system and pelvis, which helps to boost their functions.
- It helps to balance your mind and body and builds your confidence.
Who can do it?
Advanced yoga practitioners can do this yoga pose. Intermediate yoga practitioners can do it under the guidance of the yoga teacher. People with good core strength and balance can do this pose. Sportspersons can do this pose.
Who should not do it?
Beginners should avoid doing this pose. People with any arm injury, shoulder, leg, waist, or abdomen injury should avoid doing this pose. People with any surgery to their back, hips legs, arms, and shoulder should avoid it. Pregnant women should avoid doing this pose.
How to Do Maksikanagasana?
Follow the Step-by-Step Procedure
This being a balance and strength pose, do a proper warmup, and the base preparatory arm balance and core strengthening poses. Not many poses offer a total body workout and this is one of the yoga practices.
- You can start this pose with the Tadasana pose or the Chair pose, here we will start with the Chair pose.
- Now come to the chair pose and bring your body weight to the right leg slowly lift your left foot bend the left knee and keep the left ankle on the right thigh.
- Now balancing your body on one foot, bend forward (shift forward) and place your hands on the floor (shoulder-width distance).
- Now inhale and twist your upper body to the right side by bending the right leg a bit more. Bring your both hands also to the right side onto the floor (as you do for the side crow pose) in the chaturanga position.
- Keep breathing bend your elbows, and place your left foot on the upper arm (left arm) and near the shoulders.
- No bring your right thigh and rest (tuck) on the upper arm of the left hand.
- Inhale bend forward and bring your weight on the arms, exhale lift the foot off the floor, and straighten the right leg and foot flexed.
- Gaze forward hold the dragonfly pose for a few breaths and keep your core engaged.
- When you release, come back slowly to the mountain pose and relax your body, before you do it on the other side, by balancing on the left leg and bringing your right foot (right ankle) on your left thigh.
What are the Benefits of Maksikanagasana?
- It helps to strengthen your arm muscles, wrists, and shoulders.
- It helps to enhance the flexibility of your spine, legs, thigh, and hamstrings.
- It helps to lengthen and strengthen your spine.
- It also helps to improve focus and concentration.
- This improves the strength and balance of your body and mind.
Health Conditions that Might Benefit from Maksikanagasana
- This helps to improve your digestion process, which helps to keep your digestive system healthy and reduces bloating and constipation.
- This helps to elongate your spine, which helps to improve the body’s posture.
- It helps to stimulate the Muladhara chakra, which improves your willpower and self-confidence and releases negative emotions, which promotes a healthy lifestyle.
- This pose helps to stimulate both sides of your brain.
- This intricate pose creates space in the hips, pelvis, and lumbar spine while simultaneously building strength in the arms, chest, and upper back.
- The twist stimulates the internal organs of the abdomen and pelvis, which boosts the function of the digestive and reproductive systems.
Safety and Precautions
- People with high blood pressure, sciatica, or back pain should avoid doing this yoga practice.
- Do warmup and preparatory poses before entering the dragonfly pose.
- For any injury or surgery consult your doctor.
- Always do the dragonfly pose on an empty stomach.
Common Mistakes
- Avoid twisting your hips, more than your comfort level.
- Not engaging the core.
- Holding the breath.
- Any discomfort or pain just comes out of the pose.
Tips for Maksikanagasana
- Warm up your hips, wrists, shoulders, core, and legs to gain, the necessary strength.
- Do the base poses to build a strong foundation for this balance pose.
- Keep your hips squared and rotate the spine.
- Keep a firm grip on your hands for better stability and balance.
- Be aware of your body and mind.
Physical Alignment Principles for Maksikanagasana
- Keep your arms bent, at around 90 degrees.
- Both your palms are grounded and spread the fingers and press against the ground.
- The leg-extended foot is flexed and keeps the toes active.
- Gaze to the extended leg on the ground, within your comfort.
- Shoulders in line with each other, roll back and down.
- The lower chest should be closer to the ground.
- Engage your core muscles to lift the hips.
- The bent leg (left leg), and sole should rest on the triceps of the same side.
Maksikanagasana and Breath
Keeping breath as a guide with make your Maksikanagasana safe and beneficial. Breath acts as the lead to engage the core muscles and lift the body for this pose. While set in the pose inhale and exhale gently and continue breathing to maintain the pose. Never hold your breath, this may be risky and you may harm yourself.
Inhale deeply and gently while you lift your chest, and lengthen your spine. Then exhale, as you bring your weight forward. Inhale deeply, pressing your arms to the ground, and exhale as you lift your foot off the mat straighten it, and keep breathing normally. Let your breath be gentle and gaze in the front or down. Exhale and slowly release the pose. Breathing will give you more stability and improve your focus and concentration.
Maksikanagasana and Variations
- Plank poses as the base.
- Plank pose with knees bent.
- Side crow
- Eight-angle pose.
- Use blocks to rest your feet or arms.
- Place a cushion in front of the head.
- Baby grasshopper pose.
The Bottom Line
This advanced, forward bend pose offers a total body workout, but do the warmup before coming to the dragonfly pose. This requires a lot of stability, balance, and focus. This has many benefits if done following the physical alignment procedure. Any health concerns just consult your doctor. Initially do it under the guidance of the yoga teacher. This creates more self-awareness towards oneself which is helpful in your everyday life. This is good for your back and it improves your posture if included in your routine. You can add an easier version if you are a beginner or a challenging version if you are already practicing yoga. This asana boosts your confidence level, and willpower and improves self-awareness.
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