Tips for Eagle Pose, Garurasana

Core Engagement 

Keeping your core engaged can really help your balance in Eagle Posture. Think of an apple core rather than just sucking in your stomach and pull in your transverse abdominals (these are the low abdominals - read more about them here), your glutes or backside muscles, lengthen your tailbone and if you tend to have a pelvic tilt either forward or back consciously align your pelvis. Contract your pelvic floor. Don't contract all of this as hard as you can otherwise it will be hard to maintain throughout the posture. Instead, gently contract to enable you to hold it longer and develop strength. 

Eagle Pose Arms

 There can be physical challenges to getting your palms together in front of your face, a large chest, tight shoulders or shoulder injuries and large biceps are just a few. Your mind can also impede you in creating the beak of the eagle by defaulting to lacing the fingers every time instead of trying each time for the palms and accepting limitations of the past. Loosen the mind and the shoulders before you swing them overhead. Shake your arms out loosely and think to yourself 'loose, relaxed arms' and then swing them into place and try for your palms. Keep your wrists straight. 

Line up the major joints. 

With your contracted core doing much of the balancing work for you it's time to think about the alignment. Focus on sitting down as much as you can, this gives much greater scope to adjust things and really squeeze everything together. Feel the contact between your two legs and really contract. Check your wrists aren't bending. 

How The Archer Hot Yoga Towel can help you in Eagle Pose.

The circle gives your posture a centred starting position and the long centre line arrow is your reference point for the alignment of the knees, elbows and wrists. The non slip fabric gives a smooth surface to your practice. Click here to buy your very own Archer towel.

The Archer Hot Yoga Towel.

More hints on Eagle Pose and the rest of the Bikram Yoga Postures.

Ever wondered why there is only six inches between your feet in the second set of Camel even though you open up your knees? Get the answer to this and much more in our free ebook 'Your Alignment in Hot Yoga'.