Pose Dissection 003: 2 Simple Secrets to an Amazing Chin Stand (Uttana Salabhasana)

“I heard you have to be really flexible??”

“No…you need strong arms”

“But the core isn’t really important.”

“Um…what pose doesn’t require your core? That’s a brilliant statement.”

“Are you stupid??? I’ve trained with [insert Guru X here] and he said you just need arm strength”

“And if you didn’t have it, I bet he told you the shortcut was to worship trees…and sleep with him”

“Yeah…well…my yoga practice is definitely better than yours and your pigeon pose sucks.”

“And I have more Instagram followers than you, so what??”

This could be an argument between two 8th graders on the blacktop.

Or…

It could be a friendly “yogic-discussion” turned argument between two know-it-all adults debating their favorite yoga pose.

Can you believe I’ve actually seen something like this before?

In San Francisco.

Children(adults), stop the bickering.

Let’s just all admit it. We love yoga and practice all the time so why not be good at it?

Our favorite yoga pose is like our golf swing. We get secretly angry when it doesn’t look perfect.

Attempting and falling in handstand repeatedly is about as bad as slicing your drive off into the forest next to the fairway.

Ever collapse in a pose and don’t know why?

It’s a hopeless feeling isn’t it?

Uttana Salabhasana, also known as “Chin Drop Pose” and “Chin Stand” and “Locust Pose” is one of them.

Let’s point out some details to completely change the feel. And make you less angry.

Do you do this pose with your chin smashed into the floor? It so, listen up.

1. The Elbows

Do you ever think about what the elbows are doing in this pose?

It’s a mistake not to.

Most students allow their elbows to spay way too far out to the side. This causes the rib cage and the chin to simply collapse.

The wider the elbows, the more dependent you are on sheer shoulder and arm strength.

From now on, do exactly the opposite, squeeze your elbows in as much as possible. Squeeze them so much that you could almost feel a rubber band wrapped around your elbows.

What Squeezing the “Elbows in” Actually Accomplishes?

“Brian, it sooo much harder to do the pose this way.” But it also makes it a whole lot more effective.

Most students do this pose flat out wrong.

Not on purpose, but because they don’t know any better. And yes, just because you can do a pose that looks beautiful doesn’t mean you’re allowing your body to extract the maximum benefit from it.

You’re reading my blog to take your practice to the next level, not just to be another dumb yogi.

Notice, the more you squeeze your elbows together, the more your torso naturally wants to move up rather than collapse.

Why is this important?

When doing this pose, students simply thrust their chest and ribs forward as much as possible and hope for the best. But this doesn’t set you up to learn the subtleties in the pose. And by now, you should know that’s what I’m all about.

The higher you can lift your torso off the ground, the more it will force your back muscles to engage, which brings me to the next point.

2. The Back

Think about this especially if you have a hard time getting far enough forward.

Part of even being able to balance means shifting the hips forward enough. This is nearly impossible without the back working correctly. You don’t want a straight spine, but a backbend, in the upper back of course.

Your shoulder blades must squeeze together just like Upward Dog. This pushes your rib cage forward.

In the case of Uttana Salabhasana, and this is going to sound weird, but crucial to grasping probably the core concept of this entire pose:

The elbows need to squeeze in enough to elevate the torso so that the shoulder blades have enough room to squeeze together to effectively drop the rib cage back down, creating a backbending effect that pushes the hips forward. This is what creates seamless balance.

Another Viewpoint on the Mechanics

Here’s an alternative way to think about this pose:

This pose is difficult because you’re essentially creating Chaturanga and Up Dog at the same time. Think about it. The arms resemble Chaturanga (plus a higher percentage of your body weight) and the back resembles Up Dog in how the shoulder blades squeeze together to create a nice arc.

So the takeaway message here?

Don’t slack on your vinyasas. Each time you do a vinyasa, you are effectively practicing this pose in pieces.

How To Get Your Chin Off the Ground

Believe it or not, this pose is actually meant to be done with your chin off the ground. But this amplifies the difficultly on an already difficult pose.

It starts with getting the elbow mechanics correct. Naturally, as your torso gets higher, your neck and head will too, which will elevate the chin. But let me remind you, it takes practice and won’t happen immediately.

Use Blocks…

Blocks aren’t for wimps. In fact, exactly opposite, there’s something magical about feeling a pose correctly. You can’t feel a pose correctly useless you are using your body correctly. And blocks help that.

Here’s How…

Grab two blocks and set them up shoulder distance apart and place your fingertips in front of the blocks. Now lean forward like you’re doing the pose and set the fronts of your shoulders onto the blocks. It’s no doubt easier to hold and artificially elevates the chin.

Get in the habit of pushing into the floor with your hands. Try and push the fronts on the shoulders off the blocks. This takes time.