The many small steps to Pincha Mayurasana (पिंच मयूरासन ) (Feathered Peacock Pose)

Pincha Mayurasana (or Feathered Peacock Pose) is a yoga pose that roughly translates to a forearm stand. This can be the next step after mastering (or getting decent at) the Headstand (Shirshasana).

You'll need some tools to be able to start practicing the feathered peacock pose. There are:

1. Forearm strength
2. Shoulder strength
3. Lower Back strength
4. Lower Back flexibility (to arch into a slight concavity)
5. General balance (that you'll have developed as part of the headstand practice)
6. Some Core strength (that you'll have developed as part of the headstand practice)

Here are some posts explaining (in great detail) how to attain the final pose and possibly some of the intermediate steps needed to be practiced on the way to getting there:

1. Baby Steps to Forearm Stands
2. Pincha Mayurasana (Two Fit Moms)
3. Feathered Peacock Pose (Yoga Journal) and the video
4. Benefits of Pincha Mayurasana

Here are some excellent videos that you should watch to get a visual introduction to the pose:

Let me now discuss some of the extra bits I would like to add or stuff I would like to emphasize from the posts and videos above:

1. Practicing the Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) was helpful in opening up my lower back
2. Practicing the Locust Pose (Salabhasana) (or even doing one leg at a time) was extremely helpful in developing lower back strength
3. Forearm and shoulder strength can be developed by practicing the Peacock Pose (Mayursana) and by using wrist strengtheners such as a Powerball
4. When I started, I used a wall to support me when I kicked up from the dolphin pose
5. Forearm strength, shoulder strength, and general flexibility can be developed by practising multiple rounds of Surya Namaskaar
6. Andrei Ram Om's video on the Feathered Peacock pose (above) touches up on some subtle but important aspects about the back position (arched) and the differences between various hand positions. I think it's extremely relevant to know these differences when you start so that you can experience the full flavour of the pose

On Shanti, and keep practising! Namastey!

ॐ

Gyro balls and yoga

The Powerball is a relatively new gyro-based exercise device intended for strength building in the wrists and fore-arms. I'm using it to help me in my yoga practice.

Aasanas that require wrist and forearm strength are greatly benefited by using the wrist exercising gyro for 3-5 minutes a day.

For example, using the gyro helped me get going with hamsasana (where your fingers are pointing towards your face)

which is a lot harder than mayurasana (where your fingers are pointing away from your face, and towards your feet).

You can immediately spot the difference between the final pose for each posture.

1. In hamsasana, your body is bent at the buttocks, whereas in mayurasana, the body is mostly straight.
2. In hamsasana, your face is closer to the ground than it is in mayurasana.
3. In hamsasana, you are bent further forward (angle that the forearms make with the floor) than you are in mayurasana.
4. In hamsasana, your back is slightly more bent compared to mayurasana, where you back is mostly straight.
5. In hamsasana, your elbow is further down your abdomen compared to mayurasana, where it is tucked into your stomach.
6. Hamsasana needs more wrist strength compared to mayurasana.