Trying to listen to alignment cues in a yoga class and understanding the right positioning can be overwhelming. Here, the Yoga Bear brings up step by step through the Kumbhakasana pose or literally translated ‘Plank Pose’.

Establishing the Foundation of the pose

  1. Beginning on hands and knees, assess your alignment in this tabletop position
  2. Wrists should be directly beneath your shoulders with the wrist creases parallel to the top of the mat
  3. Spread the fingers wide and distribute the weight evenly throughout the hands
  4. Imagine pressing the mat away from you, lifting the chest higher and becoming broad and open across the chest and collarbones
  5. Look down between your hands but keep the head and neck in line with the spine
  6. Engage your core and thighs to prevent sagging in the lower back and lengthen the tailbone towards the heels
Establishing the plank yoga pose
Establishing the plank yoga pose

Moving Into the Pose

  1. Maintaining that position in the upper body, step your feet back, toes tucked and bring your body and head into one straight line
  2. Engage your core and thighs to prevent sagging in the lower back and lengthen the tailbone towards the heels

Maintaining the Pose

  1. Stay here for a couple of breaths
  2. Try not to let the weight in your hands distribute towards the little finger side
  3. Notice if your butt is sticking up in the air or your hips are sinking towards the floor and realign as necessary ensuring the shoulders are still over the wrists
  4. Take care to not let the head dip low also
  5. Avoid locking your elbows in the pose.  Keep the arms relatively straight but the elbows ‘soft ‘ with a slight ‘micro-bend’
Maintaining the plank yoga pose
Maintaining the plank yoga pose

Completing the Pose

  1. On an exhale, either slowly lower to your knees and release the hips towards the heels and rest in Childs Pose or, if practising plank as part of a Sun Salutation, slowly lower into Chaturanga Dandasana or Knees-Chest-Chin Pose

Benefits

  • Strengthens the arms, wrists, shoulders and spine
  • Strengthens the core and tones the abdominal muscles
  • Tones the abdomen, chest and lower back
  • Helps to improve posture
  • Helps to build endurance and stamina
dog plank yoga pose
Impressive...Plank Pose can also be practised on its own to build strength and stamina

Don’t Do If…

  • You have carpal tunnel syndrome or osteoporosis
  • You have back, shoulder, arm or wrist injury

Modifications

  • Lower the knees into half plank which is still great for working the upper body
  • Lower onto your forearms to take pressure off the wrists but still work on the core

Notes

  • Often done as part of a Sun Salutation sequence, Plank Pose can also be practised on its own to build strength and stamina and prepare the body for some more challenging arm balances such as Bakasana.