• What is Yoga?
• History
• Benefits
• Classification
• Getting Started
• Postures
• Interactive
• Facts & Figures
• FAQ's
• Home

Halasana

Postures > Supine > Halasana

Posture

The body takes the shape similar to a plough ('hala' in Sanskrit). Also as the plough makes the hard ground soft, in this asana the veins are stretched which reduces the stiffness of the body.

Pre position

Supine position

Procedure

1. Exhale and inhaling, start raising both the legs upward and stop when they make angle of 90 degree with the floor. Attain the uttanpadasana posture.
2. Exhaling raise the waist, hips and push the legs backward over the head. Try to maintain the balance.
3. After exhaling completely, push the legs further back and try to touch ground with toes. Keep the toes stretched.
4. Continue normal breathing.

Position

Keep the knees straight or else the expected pressure on the organs is not achieved. In this position head, the shoulders, toes and arms should rest on the ground. The chin pressed in jalandhar bandha.

Releasing

1. Exhale and inhaling lift the toes of the floor keeping the legs straight in knees.
2. Continue inhaling and slowly keep the back on the ground and take the uttanpadasana position.
3. Exhaling, bring legs back to the normal position without jerk or speed.

Duration

This asana is difficult initially, especially for women with heavy hips and men with big belly's. Initially you can take help of other person while raising the hips and waist. This asana should be maintained for 30 seconds after sufficient practice to get the desired results.

Internal effects

In this asana the spine is stretched fully in a curve. It becomes more elastic and its overall functioning is improved. Like in sarvangasana jalandhar bandha is performed and the same advantages are achieved.

All the muscles from toes to waist are also stretched helping improvement in the functioning of veins.

This asana is also useful for gastric troubles, digestion problems.

Precaution

Avoid jerks or speedy movements as it might cause some injury to the backbone. So the movements should be controlled at every stage of this asana. People suffering from spleen and lever complaints should do this asana after consulting a Yoga expert.