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How to Do Baby Crow Pose

Yoga | Yoga Poses

Baby Crow, or Baby Bakasana, is a cross between Crow Pose (Bakasana) and Duck Pose (Karandavasana).

This hybrid pose is a tricky forearm balance that demands a certain degree of shoulder and core strength, as well as a sense of fearlessness as the pose is so small that the face can seem perilously close to the floor!

While it may look cute, it’s far from simple, and is a great way to experiment and spice up your arm balance practice.

Benefits of Baby Crow Pose

Baby Crow strengthens the shoulders and arms, creates a stretch through the upper back, and helps to tone the core. The pose can also help to improve balance and concentration, and serves as a great reminder to be playful with your practice and experiment with new variations of old classics.

Step-By-Step

  1. Set up as you would for Crow Pose, coming into a low squat (Malasana), with your knees bent. Come up onto the balls of your feet, bring your big toes together and separate your knees wide apart.
  2. Plant your hands on the mat in front of you, just wider than shoulder distance apart, then bend your elbows and place your forearms down on the mat. Ensure your forearms are parallel to one another and that your elbows aren’t splaying out to the sides.
  3. Lift your hips up slightly and begin to hug your knees around your upper outer arms. Find the action of squeezing your legs in toward the midline of your body.
  4. Shift your weight forward and keep your gaze just ahead of your fingertips. Leading with the heart, begin to round through your upper back and come up onto the tips of your toes.
  5. Experiment with your balance here, picking up one foot and then the other. If it feels appropriate for you, keep squeezing your knees into your upper arms, reach your chest forward, and lift both feet off the ground, drawing your heels toward your buttocks.
  6. Remain in your expression of the pose for up to five full breaths, then gently lower your feet to the ground on an exhale.

Tips

  • While it may seem scary, remember to keep the gaze in front of you and lead with the heart! Looking forward to where you want to go will help you get there most efficiently.
  • Looping a strap around your upper arms can help keep your elbows at shoulder distance apart and can encourage the action of energetically drawing in toward the midline.
  • Care must be taken to avoid “dumping” into the shoulders in this pose. Think about actively pressing through your elbows, firming through your upper outer arms, and resisting away from the ground with your shoulders.

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