Sleeping tortoise pose

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Technique

1. From a downward facing dog position, jump the legs around the arms and lower the butt down.
2. Place the left leg behind the head, followed by the right leg.
3. Fold forward bringing the forehead to the floor.
4. Take the arms back and bind hands behind the back.
5. To come up, lift the head, plant the hands on each side of your hips and lift up.
6. Take the legs back to Crane pose (crane pose)
7. Jump back to Bottom pushup hold.

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Form tips

• This version is quite extreme and requires proficiency with leg behind the head poses. If you cannot put your legs behind the head, try the version with the entrance from kurmasana.
• In the transition, make sure the arms are not too wide. You can work the legs back behind the arms one leg at a time.

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Muscles

Flexibility

Primary

• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Hip adductors

Secondary

• Rotator cuff
• Spine
• Shoulders

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Equipment

Ground (hands or body)

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Appears in

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Regressions

Tortoise pose

Advanced

Sleeping tortoise pose with hands bound

Intermediate

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