How to do Chakrasana & Benefits

Chakrasana or the wheel pose is the back-bending yoga posture that not only strengthens the spine, arms, shoulders, wrists, legs, abdomen, and buttocks but also provides flexibility to them. It is an in-between to advanced yoga posture which needs flexibility, strength, and correct positioning for its proper performance.

Preparation in Yoga class:

• Stay on your back with your knees bent and feet anchored on the ground, your hips in a shoulder-width position.
• Make bend inside he elbows and keep palms on the floor near your head, thumb and fingers pointing towards the shoulders.

Inhale and Lift:

• Slide your hands and feet into the floor, and raise your hips becoming perpendicular to the ceiling.
• Stretch up your arms and legs by your limit.
• Maintain your elbows in parallel position at the height of the chest and keep them pointing in the direction of each other.

Arch Back:

• Intensify the force in your hands to lift your chest towards the sky.
• Elongate the neck and remain upright without rolling shoulders forward.
• In the stretching position, be sure to focus your thighs and the buttocks to support your lumbar spine.

Hold and Breathe:

• Sustain the posture through some breath, keeping the thoracic chamber lifted and the shoulders open.

Release:

• Release and to the ground, similarly, inhale and slowly lower down, vertebra by vertebra.

Savasana (Corpse pose) for some moments. When we breathe out and release the tension.

Contraindications:

• Spinal Injuries: Avoid any of the variant forms of Chakrasana, provided you have any recent or severe spine injuries, for instance, a slipped disc or spine fracture.
• Wrist or Shoulder Injuries: People who have a problem on their wrist or shoulder should approach this pose with caution or abandon it.
• High Blood Pressure: Individuals who have uncontrolled high blood pressure may need to alter or avoid this posture because it can bring blood pressure higher.
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Perform this pose carefully if having carpal tunnel syndrome to decrease the stress applied to the wrists.

Benefits:

• Strengthens the Back: Chakra asana works on the muscles of the back, especially the spine, bettering the posture and causing relieving the back pain.
• Flexibility: It lengthens the spine, shoulders, chest, abdomen, and hip flexors that are usually tight.
• Stimulates Energy Flow: Chakra asana arouses the energy current circulating in the body, mainly through the spine and along the chakras.
• Improves Respiratory Function: This pose increases the chest's sizes, thus enabling a person to acquire a high lung capacity and also improves respiratory health.
• Mood Booster: One of the main benefits of backbends is the fact that they are effective energizers that often have a positive impact on your mood, making you feel blessed and refreshed.

Variations:

• Supported Wheel Pose: Put the a yoga block or a bolster under the sacrum for the softer and sustainable backbend.
• One-Legged Wheel Pose: Take one leg upward to ceiling while you execute Chakrasana to intensify the stretch in the hip flexors and quadriceps.
• Bound Wheel Pose: Link hands at the back with the chest and shoulders feeling highly stretched out.
• Wall-Assisted Wheel Pose: Performing Chakrasana with your back against a wall for coordination and balance would be an excellent approach if alignment, strength or both are the issue.

The practice of including Chakrasana in your yoga activity can become the source of healthy effects for the body and the mind. However, a mindful approach to the pose is critical, with a careful respect to your body limits and instructors who have a proficiency in yoga if necessary. However, yoking the perfect posture and the repeated practice, the Chakrasana, no doubt, the exponentially life-changing posture in your whole being.

Similarly to every other yoga position, you need to be tuned into your body and to work within your limits. For those of you who are new to Chakrasana or have any doubts, it would be best to seek advice from a seasoned yoga teacher during the Yoga Training Training course.