Flying crow pose
- Sanskrit
- Eka Pada Kakasana
- English
- One legged crow
- Last challenge
- New Soul Year
Flying crow pose is a challenging arm balance and inversion, which require a good amount of strength and awareness of center of gravity. Start with a regular crow pose and lift one of the legs backwards with control, while leaning forward to compensate for the changed center of gravity. Elbows are usually more bent than in crow pose as a result, often approaching 90 degrees as in chaturanga. The sweet spot for me is approx 60 degrees.
Funky flying crow is a popular variation, in which the elbow on the side of the extended leg is in ground. Some students who struggle with flying crow find funky flying crow more doable. Funky flying crow do also closely resemble the Flashing Arrow pose in Forrest Yoga.
The best way to exit a flying crow is to transit back to crow pose with control.
Falling in flying crow is usually harmless, as head is close to the ground and your arms are in position to further dampen the fall.
The next step when being stable in flying crow is to try leg switches.
How to do Flying crow pose
- Start in chair pose, squat down to parallel
- Put hands in ground, spread fingers a bit
- Rise your feet and tilt into crow pose
- Hold for a few breaths and gaze forward
- Slowly extend one leg backwards, tilt forward to keep center of gravity at your hands
- Aim for the leg and upper body forming a straight line
- Gently return to crow pose
- Gently return to chair pose