Comments on: Getting Quiet in Practice: Halasana

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:21:33 +0000

Thanks for the kind words! Nice to hear from you.

As for flipping back over in halasana, the problem may come from not lifting high up enough through your pelvis and rounding your back. Keep your hips over your shoulders actually lift your sitting bones straight up to the ceiling. It’s actually quite a bit like backbending in your back. You draw the shoulderblades into your chest, then stretch through the sides of the waist and lift the hips up. The thighs must also work; press your quads straight up into the bone of the thigh.

You may find that you are somersaulting over to one side or another, which could be caused by imbalance in lifting through the waist. My suggestion: do halasana at the wall (your head to the wall about a legs distance away, your legs overhead and your feet ON the wall). This will help to stabilize you in the position, and then you can press your feet into the wall and lift your hips to the ceiling. You’ll also be able to sense if you’re leaning into one side or another.

xo,
Rachel

By: Carmen

Carmen — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:43:25 +0000

Hi, I have love yoga for years and have just found your site it is wonderful. I have an odd issues with the Halasana. I easily go over but end up flipping over, like an awkward backwards summersault. Can not figure this out. Any advice would be so welcomed. Thanks for site and advice if any.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:23:47 +0000

Hi Eduard! My advice would be to simply not do it in the morning. Your body will naturally tend to be stiffer in the beginning of the day rather than end of the day. Halasana is an energetically cooling pose, so doing it later in the day is not counter intuitive and can be restorative. However, the method I described in this blog for practicing halasana will be a great option for you. By putting your feet on the wall at the level of your hips rather than the floor, you take some of the hamstring restriction out of the pose and can instead work on really drawing in the thoracic. Let me know if the instructions aren’t clear, and let me know how it goes!

By: Eduard

Eduard — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:50:07 +0000

Halasana perplexes me. I can do it in the evening with ease. But in the first half of the day (even at like 3 pm!) I can do it only with some pain/discomfort, even at the end of an hour-long yoga routine. I am completely perplexed by advices to do this pose in the morning after waking up. Do you have any tips for the case such as mine? I can hardly do this pose in the morning even after warming up hamstings with Uttanasana, Janu Sirsasana, Prasarita Padottanasana, etc.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:37:17 +0000

That is great to hear, Laurie! I’m so glad that the info is useful to your practice. Keep me posted if there are any poses that you’d like to see explored here. I’m happy to tailor! Have a great New Year. ~R

By: Laurie Schell

Laurie Schell — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:47:26 +0000

Hi Rachel
Really enjoyed working my way into halasana this morning after reading the tips on your site..I have been avoiding this asana for awhile and it is good to get back to it.
YOu are sharing info in a great way. Last months Bakasana focus was excellent. Getting more conscious of finding and using the adductor muscles has altered my practice…the info was not new to me yet something about your description just clicked and sunk in at this time.
Love your site. Thanks for the time and effort and sharing you are doing in this way.
Namaste, Laurie