Salabhasana or Purna Salabhasana
(; ), Locust pose, or Grasshopper pose
is a prone back-bending
asana
An āsana (Sanskrit: आसन) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and late ...
in modern
yoga as exercise
Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of asana, postures, often connected by vinyasa, flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by pranayama, breathing exercises, and frequently ending with savasana, relaxation lying down or ...
.
Etymology and origins
The asana's name comes from the Sanskrit which means "grasshopper" or "locust".
The pose is not found in the medieval
hatha yoga
Hatha yoga (; Sanskrit हठयोग, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''haṭhayoga'') is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word ह ...
texts. It is included in Yoga Ghamande's 1905 ''
Yogasopana Purvacatuska
The ''Yogasopana Purvachatushka'' (Marathi: योगसोपान पूर्वचतुष्क (in Devanagari script)) or ''Stairway to Yoga'' is a 1905 book in Marathi on hatha yoga by Yogi Narayana Ghamande. It describes and illustrates ...
'', the first yoga manual with printed illustrations, uniquely as
halftone
Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone, continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect.Campbell, Alastair. ''The Designer's Lexicon''. ...
plates.
It is described independently in
Swami Vishnudevananda
Vishnudevananda Saraswati (31 December 1927 – 9 November 1993, birth name Kuttan Nair) was an Indian yoga guru known for his teaching of asanas, a disciple of Sivananda Saraswati, and founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centr ...
's 1960 ''
Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga
''The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga'' is a 1960 book by Swami Vishnudevananda, the founder of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. It is an introduction to Hatha yoga, describing the ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali'' and the ''Hatha Yoga Pradipika ...
'' in the
Sivananda Yoga tradition, and by ''
B. K. S. Iyengar
Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (14 December 1918 – 20 August 2014) was an Indian teacher of yoga and author. He is the founder of the style of yoga as exercise, known as " Iyengar Yoga", and was considered one of the foremost yoga ...
'' in his 1966 ''
Light on Yoga
''Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika'' (Sanskrit: योग दीपिका, "Yoga Dīpikā") is a 1966 book on the Iyengar Yoga style of modern yoga as exercise by B. K. S. Iyengar, first published in English. It describes more than 200 yoga postu ...
'', implying that it may have older origins. A similar pose was found in Western gymnastics in ''
The Bagot Stack Stretch-and-Swing System'', 1931, though Mary Bagot Stack had visited India.
Yogasopana Purvacatuska
The ''Yogasopana Purvachatushka'' (Marathi: योगसोपान पूर्वचतुष्क (in Devanagari script)) or ''Stairway to Yoga'' is a 1905 book in Marathi on hatha yoga by Yogi Narayana Ghamande. It describes and illustrates ...
'', 1905
File:Schistocerca gregaria - less color 2 (cropped).JPG, A locust, ''Schistocerca gregaria
The desert locust (''Schistocerca gregaria'') is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and so ...
'', both head and 'tail' up
File:Seal posture Mollie Bagot Stack 1931.jpg, Mary Bagot Stack
Mary Bagot Stack (12 June 1883 – 26 January 1935), known as Mollie Bagot Stack, founded the Women's League of Health & Beauty in 1930, the first and most significant mass keep-fit system of the 1930s in the UK. This has continued as an exercis ...
in "Seal" posture, 1931
Description
Salabhasana is entered from a prone position. The legs are stretched out straight and lifted; the arms are stretched straight back, palms down, and lifted; the head is lifted and the gaze is directed straight ahead.
It is a back bend, or spine stretch, utilizing the strength of the upper and middle back to lift the weight of the legs as high as possible from a starting position while face down on the floor. It improves flexibility and coordination, exercises the back muscles, and increases strength and stamina.
Variations
Ardha Salabhasana (Half Locust Pose) raises one leg and the opposite arm at a time; the other arm may rest on the floor or be folded over the back.
In
Bikram Yoga
Bikram Yoga is a system of hot yoga, a type of yoga as exercise, spread by Bikram Choudhury and based on the teachings of B. C. Ghosh, that became popular in the early 1970s. Classes consist of a fixed sequence of 26 postures, practised in a r ...
, Salabhasana, following another reclining backbend,
Bhujangasana
Cobra Pose or Bhujangasana (; IAST: ) is a reclining back-bending asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise. It is also performed in a cycle of asanas in Surya Namaskar, Salute to the Sun, as an alternative to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Upwar ...
or Cobra Pose, is performed in stages. First, the arms are placed under the body pointing straight towards the feet, palms downwards, and the chin is rested on the floor. Then the left and right legs are lifted alternately. Finally, both legs are lifted together.
[ (Three web pages)]
File:Half-locust pose.jpg, Half Locust Pose, variant moving leg only
File:Salabhasana_Yoga-Asana_Nina-Mel.jpg, Variant arm position
References
Further reading
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{{Yoga as exercise
Reclining asanas
Backbend asanas