Crow is one of the quintessential yoga poses that most people are eager to nail. But what I often see as a teacher is that people are so excited to get the pose that they make a few mistakes along the way that can be easily fixed. SO here are my 5 tips to nail your next crow pose!
1. Go Forwards More
This is my number 1 tip for people who are trying to get into crow pose. Not sure how far forward you should be going? Here’s a picture of me in crow. Check out the line I drew – my shoulders are SO far in front of my wrists!
Not gonna lie here though – your wrist mobility needs to be pretty good for this to feel ok. If you want to work on your wrist mobility check out this wrist mobility blog post I made that will teach you a few exercises
2. Stop Jumping into Crow Pose
Instead of jumping, try controlling your lift off. It’ll make it much easier for you to stay in the pose once you find lift off. This is tied to step number 1 – if you go forwards enough, your feet will float off the ground, making jumping unnecessary. If you want to see how this looks, make sure you check out my YouTube video that will show you how to control coming into crow pose:
3. Use Your Hamstrings!
Your hamstrings are the muscles in the back of your thighs, and one of their jobs is to help you pull your heels to your butt. If you can use your hamstrings to pick your feet up, rather than the momentum of jumping, you’ll have an easier time controlling where your body is in space and sticking the arm balance.
4. Bend Your Elbows Straight Back – NOT Out to the Side
As you squat down, slide your elbows straight back into your shins. Bend them back into your shins – not out to the side. Find a 90 degree angle with your arms. Think of Chaturanga arms. These are all cues that say the exact same thing. Check out my Instagram post here for a visual:
5. Get Over Your Fear of Face Planting and Just Fall out of Crow Pose
If you’re scared of falling, just go ahead and do it so you can experience it. You’ll realize that it’s not so bad, which will help you overcome that fear. More often than not, FEAR is the #1 culprit when it comes to why someone can’t get into crow pose, or any other arm balance for that matter. And I get it. I had that fear too – I even face planted once in class. But guess what? No broken nose. No blood or tears.
What it did was get me over my fear of falling on my face because I had already done it and realized there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore. I’m not suggesting you go and fall and hurt your face or your wrists. But grab like 10 pillows and surround yourself and then work on your crow so you feel a little bit better when and if you fall forwards.
Give these things a try and let me know how it goes. And if you want more instruction and more cues, join my online studio for free for a week and give these arm balance classes a try!
As always, let me know if you have any questions and good luck with your crows!
P.S. Feel free to share this with anyone who you think might benefit from these tips!