Benefits Of Crane Pose

Crane Pose is very similar to Crow Pose, therefore the benefits of crane pose are also similar to that of its basic forerunner pose, crow pose.

What is Crane Pose 

Crane Pose or Bakasana is an inversion, where you balance your knees on your straightened elbows. Thus making this asana a bit more challenging than of kakasana, or crow pose. 

In crane pose, you need more flexibility in the hip flexors and a stronger core to lift your knees high up into your armpits and hold your body weight up on top of straight arms.

Physical Benefits Of Crane Pose

1. Improves Balance: Crane pose relies on you leaning forward a lot to a point where you need to engage your core and use your fingers as break to balance your hands.
2. Strengthens the arms muscles: Even though you do not need a lot of arm strength to be able to do crane pose, it will still strengthen your arm muscles, simply because you are balancing on your wrists. This means that your forearms will increase in strength, as well as your shoulder muscles. 
3. Strengthens the core muscles: The deep core muscles are essential for our stability and balance. Thus all arm balances are great for strengthening your core.
4. Strengthens the wrist muscles: All arm balances rely significantly on your wrists; after all that is where you balance on. It is very important to always mobilize, and warm up your wrists before practicing arm balances, and to stretch your wrists (or forearms) after your arm balance practice, to avoid injury.
5. Stretches the glutes: By flexing your hip flexors you are antagonistically stretching your glute muscles.
6. Improves Digestion: By massaging our abdominals, crane pose can aid in digestion.

Mental Benefits Of Crane Pose

1. Improves Concentration: It takes a lot of concentration to hold a posture, where you need to balance on your hands and with an additional fear of toppling over onto your face.
2. Improves Focus: By concentrating on the pose you learn to increase your focus.
3. Builds Endurance: To be able to hold a challenging yoga pose like bakasana, really pushes you to your limits. Everything outside your comfort zone does. 
4. Increases tranquillity: As it balances the nervous system, crane pose also helps to calm the mind.

Spiritual Benefits Of Crane Pose

1. Strengthens the sacral chakra: By engaging the sacral chakra, crane pose helps us to get in touch with our creativity.

Final Thoughts

Crane Pose, just like Crow Pose aswell, will gift you with a lot of amazing benefits when you practice it regularly. 

Always remember to warm up your wrists before you give them the task of carrying your body weight. Unlike your feet, your wrists are probably not used to carrying that much weight and will thank you for giving them some love before and ideally after your arm balance practice.

“Aim High, Fly Higher!”

Namaste

FAQ’s

What Muscles does Crane Pose work?

Crane Pose is a full-body workout. The main muscles that are being strengthened in crane pose are the hip flexors, the core muscles, and the arm and shoulder muscles.

The main muscle groups that are being stretched, are the bicep brachii and the glute muscles.

Which Pose is better, Crow or Crane Pose?

Both Poses have similar benefits. However, crane pose is considerably more challenging than crow pose as you need more hip flexibility and core strength. If you struggle with crane pose though, crow pose is a very essential gateway pose for it.