WHEN someone like myself proclaims to love dolphins, I obviously mean the marine mammal and not the yoga pose. Whenever I hear the words, ‘place your forearms on the floor, point your tailbone up and walk towards your face with your legs kept straight, I cringe every time. Coincidentally, this is the same response I get from my students when they are asked to ‘go to their Dolphin Pose’. Despite the reaction, it is a beautiful pose ─ akin to its name ─ if you get it right.
Known in Sanskrit as Pincha Mayurasana (Peacock Feather Pose) ─ whereby ‘pincha’ means feather, ‘mayura’ means peacock and ‘sana’ means pose ─ we will be using a block to get into this pose. As I’ve been working on it for a few years now, I’ll also share some tips this week on how you can open up your shoulders as well as stretch and strengthen the hamstrings a lot more. These exercises will help strengthen your core, shoulders, arms, and back as well as stretch out your shoulders, thorax, neck, and navel.
I personally love the Dolphin Pose because it energises both the mind and body. It’s an amazing balancing act that not only works on your focus, it draws a fresh supply of blood into the upper body whilst increasing stimulation, drainage, and circulation in the lower part of your body.
Beginners’ Tips
• Take your time! Work on building more strength in your shoulders and core, and to always be aware of the position of your shoulders, elbows, ribcage, and tailbone. More importantly, keep practicing
• Be patient
• Use a wall as support but don’t get too close to the wall though.
With the help of a block, we are going to try our very best to get into a Pincha Mayurasana; I am super excited just at the thought of it! ─ The Vibes, 24 March, 2021
