Balanced yoga poses are an invigorating challenge. Balancing poses where you’re also upside down are even better! Scorpion Pose, or vrschikasana in Sanskrit, is a challenge yoga inversion which tests your concentration and flexibility.
Do you think you have enough physical and mental confidence? Read on to work your way to scorpion pose.
What is the scorpion pose?
The Scorpion pose is an advanced level backbend pose that uses your whole body strength to put you upside down while balancing on your forearms.
To create the big “C” curve of Scorpion Pose, we suggest preparing your body beforehand to strengthen and lengthen your spine. Try poses that stretch the spine like the cat and cow pose, camel poseAnd dolphin pose.
Scorpion pose: step by step instructions
“One of my favorite ways to strike the scorpion pose is to lean against a wall,” says Derise Anjanette, a 500 E-RYT Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher in Boulder, Colorado. “The wall makes posing really very accessible to a lot of people.”
- Start in a forearm plank with elbows tucked in and shoulder blades drawn down and back. Spread your fingers wide and press them in with your fingertips.
- Staying on your forearms, walk your toes towards your elbows to enter dolphin board laid.
- From the dolphin, try to align your hips with your shoulders before moving into the forearm position. Stack your hips over your shoulders. Engage your upper body and lift one leg into the air. Try jumping (for momentum) with your foot on the ground until you can lift both legs in the air.
- Once you have the forearm in a standing position, begin to bend your back into a “C” shape by moving your hips to the front of your mat and dipping your feet to the top of your head (imagine a scorpion tail). Look ahead to protect your spine.
Remember that the wall is a great tool to use when learning this pose for the first time.
What muscles does Scorpio Pose work?
Scorpio pose stretches and strengthens all at once. In the pose, you will work your heart, back, armAnd legs. You will stretch your chest, shouldersand spine, while also opening up your quads and the hips.
“The quads have to be wide open with the knees bent,” says Anjanette. “And the other danger of the pose is falling in your lower back. Focus on moving the heart forward and engaging the serratus muscles.
The serratus muscles are the muscles on the upper and outer sides of your chest that help drive your sternum forward and widen through the pecs.
Because yoga is also a mental practice, Scorpion Pose can push your limits of fear and vulnerability while working on your balance and focus.
