How to do Crow Pose (Bakasana)

By Donna Davidge, owner/operator of Sewall House

There are so many fun and wonderful yoga poses, and Crow pose, or Bakasana, is one of my favorites.

A little about the Crow pose and the Sewall House YouTube Channel

A year ago I decided to expand Sewall House’s offering on YouTube.

Back in the day — 2007, when YouTube was just a couple years old — we joined YouTube by adding interviews with Sewall House guests. Nowadays, in the Covid/post-Covid world, people are turning to the internet even more for their physical fitness. In addition, the yoga and wellness vacations and retreats markets are exploding. Consumers have never had so many choices, so many more than when we offered our first retreats in 1997.

While we give you hands-on attention when you are a guest at our retreat center, we try to make our YouTube video instruction as full of details as if you were in one of our live classes.

While we, of course, would love to have you book your own personalized retreat — available to you anytime, and for however many days (we recommend at least 5 or 7) you choose — we appreciate that YouTube offers us a way to reach people when they are not here with us. With YouTube we have a venue for people to see (and do!) our classes at Sewall House, as well as full classes from past DVD projects, and snippets of things like … Crow pose!

For some reason, of all the videos we’ve posted, my short segment doing Crow pose, then taking it into Headstand 2, is getting the most views. (You can watch it at YouTube or we’ve also embedded it below.)

What is so Interesting about Crow Pose?

In this popular video, I break Crow pose down into the different ways one can approach it. As with all poses, knowing details can be the ticket to achieving the pose. So let’s talk about Crow.

Something called “drishti”

First, in any pose there is something called “drishti”, which means “gaze”. In Crow pose, because it’s a balancing pose, the gaze is particularly important. Your head must be slightly lifted and your eyes focused just a bit ahead of you on the floor.

Many people want to look at their body in this pose, but that throws the balance way off. This is a full arm balance! Once you realize the gaze must be slightly ahead of you, the next step is make sure you don’t lift the head so much that you strain the back of your neck. One of my mentor Iyengar teachers says to leave room for a diamond shape at the back of your neck, so no pinching or cutting off your head, so to speak.

Where to place your legs in Crow Pose

Second, is figuring out how and where to place your legs.

While many place their knees on top of the elbows, this is not incorrect, I put my knees outside my upper arm (the deltoid muscles, which are the “belly muscle” of the arm) and squeeze in, making an effort to keep my legs up on or near the deltoids.

While my legs sometimes do slide away from my deltoids, I am still squeezing in. The contraction inward with my arms then causes my belly to contract, and, voila, the crow is lifting UP its wings — putting less pressure on our joints — instead of weighing us DOWN into the earth. We want to lift OFF the joints as much as we can, working the muscles of the arms and legs, not only to support our joints, but also to strengthen the bones. Part of the beauty of yoga is how holistic it is in working all our body systems together!

Adding Headstand 2 to Crow Pose

Once you have achieved Crow pose, you may want to find the control to gently land on the top of your head, and then lift your legs into Headstand 2. Headstand 2 is the version with tripod arms — away from your head — which is easier for some people. If you can achieve a Full Lotus, with open hips and flexible knees, you can play around with that, bringing the legs down into your arms. Then you can either go back up into the headstand or go back into Crow with Full Lotus. That one is for advanced folks. Most people will perform the pose with legs uncrossed.

Seriously, watch my Crow Pose video

I have a cute story I love to tell when teaching this pose, so check out the YouTube video, where I also talk about some ways props can help you achieve Crow pose. Find your courage to fly! Once you’ve watched the video, subscribe to our channel. We’re here to help!

Book your personal yoga/wellness retreat with us

Always remember that yoga is a practice, and everyone’s practice is different, so never rush when working on new poses. Go at the right pace for your body and experience level.

Also, please know that when you book a personal yoga and wellness retreat at Sewall House, you can select any days that are available and we will work with you personally. With only 6 sleeping rooms available, you always get personal attention at Sewall House Yoga Retreat. Book your retreat now!