Assisted Shoulder-Pressing Pose with heel hook

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Technique

1. From a standing position with feet separated hip width apart or slightly wider, place blocks behind your heels.
2. Bend the knees and bring the arms behind the legs.
3. Place hands on the blocks, fingers pointing forward. Work the shoulder behind the legs.
4. Shift the weight to your hands pressing the hands on the blocks.
5. Take the feet off the floor and cross the ankles right over left.
6. Squeeze the legs against the arms to maintain the position.

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Form tips

• Spread the fingers wide and balance the weight between the heel of the hand and fingers.
• Crossing the feet requires clearing the floor by a few inches when lifting them up. Flex the spine, protract the shoulders and engage your core and back muscles to lift the feet off the floor and create space.
• Crossing the feet requires deep external hip rotation and flexion. You can work on janu sirsasana, malasana, or baddha konasana ( Butterfly stretch) to gain flexibility.

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Muscles

Strength

Secondary

• Triceps
• Serratus anterior
• Back
• Shoulders
• Forearms
• Chest

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Equipment

Yoga block

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Appears in

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Regressions

Assisted Shoulder-Pressing Pose

Novice

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