Bhuja: Arms
Danda: Stick
Asana: Pose
Parsva Bhuja Dandasanaat a Glance
Parsva Bhuja Dandasana is an advanced challenging posture. It is the combination of both hip opening and arm balancing with a twist. This pose needs good strength in your forearms, wrists, pelvic floor muscles, and core muscles. This pose enhances your courage, body awareness, and motivation to work toward new things in life with confidence.
Benefits:
- It helps to strengthen your arms, wrists, back and shoulders.
- This helps to strengthen and tone your abdomen.
- It is a good hip opener and tones your legs.
- It improves your inner confidence and strength.
- It stimulates your reproductive system and pelvis.
Who can do it?
Advanced yoga practitioners can do this pose. Sportspersons & people with good levels of arm and core strength can do this pose. Intermediate practitioners can do this pose under the guidance of the yoga teacher.
Who should not do it?
Beginners and pregnant ladies should avoid this pose. People with shoulder injuries or surgeries to their shoulder, waist, elbows, wrist, abdomen, back, hips, and legs, should avoid it.
How to Do Parsva Bhuja Dandasana?
Follow the Step-by-Step Procedure
Being a challenging pose, do a proper warmup, the base preparatory arm balancing pose, and core strengthening poses. This pose gives a total body workout. You can do this by coming to the chair pose also.
- Start with the Dandasana pose, spine straight and legs straight in front of you.
- Bring your left ankle and place it above the right knee.
- Breathe in and turn your upper body to your right side.
- Now slowly adjust the arch of your left foot and position it on the left upper back arm.
- Keeping this twisting position place your palms on the ground, keeping shoulder width, onto your right side.
- Inhale lean forward and bring your weight on the arms, exhale lift the foot off the floor, and straighten the right leg (right foot) flexed.
- Hold this Parsva Bhuja Dandasana pose for a few breaths and gaze forward.
- When you are ready to release, exhale fold your right leg, and come to the Dandasana pose and relax.
- Do this on the other side by Crossing your right ankle just above your left knee (left thigh) to keep a balance of your body.
What are the Benefits of Parsva Bhuja Dandasana?
- It opens your hip joint & strengthens your spine and improves flexibility.
- It strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles.
- It helps to strengthen your arm muscles, wrists, and shoulders.
- It helps to enhance the flexibility of your spine, legs, thigh, and hamstrings.
- It also helps to improve focus and concentration.
- Improving the inner strength and balance of your body and mind.
Health Conditions that Might be Beneficial from Parsva Bhuja Dandasana
- This creates space in the hips, pelvis, and lumbar spine while simultaneously building strength in the arms, chest, and upper back.
- This pose helps to stimulate both sides of your brain.
- It activates the Muladhara chakra, which improves your willpower and self-confidence and releases negative emotions.
- Activates the abdominal organs and pelvis, which boosts the function of the digestive and reproductive systems.
Safety and Precautions
- High blood pressure, sciatica, or back pain should avoid this yoga practice.
- Do warmup and preparatory poses.
- Do it on an Empty stomach.
Common Mistakes
- Don’t hold your breath.
- Avoid twisting more than your comfort level.
- Keep your core engaged.
- If you are new to this pose, do it under the guidance of a yoga teacher.
Tips for Parsva Bhuja Dandasana
- 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 Parsva Bhuja Dandasana
- Keep your palms grounded and your fingers spread and press against the ground.
- Shoulders in line with each other, roll back and down.
- The lower chest should be closer to the ground.
- The leg-extended foot is flexed and keeps the toes active.
- The leg bent (left leg), and sole should rest on the tricep of the same side.
- Arch of your right foot against the back of your right arm (vice versa).
- Keep your arms bent, at around 90 degrees.
- Engage your core muscles to lift the hips.
Parsva Bhuja Dandasana and Breath
Breath should be the guide to keep it safe and beneficial. Breath acts as the lead to engage the core muscles and lift the body for this pose.
Inhale deeply and gently while you lift your chest, and lengthen your spine. 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 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.
Parsva Bhuja Dandasana and Variations
- Maksikanagasana
- Baby grasshopper pose
- Side crow pose
- Eight-angle pose
- Use blocks to rest your feet or arms.
- Place a cushion in front of the head.
The Bottom Line
This advanced, forward bend pose needs warmup and preparatory poses before coming to the Grasshopper pose. This requires a lot of stability, balance, and focus. This has many benefits (Physical and mental) 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, adding an easier version if you are a beginner. This asana boosts your confidence level, and willpower and improves self-awareness.
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