Advanced Yoga Poses

If you are one of those people who has managed to pass stage one of bending your body and contorting it to form pretzel-like shapes, then you are probably a religious practitioner of yoga. You probably have the determination, patience, strength, and flexibility that anyone would be jealous of.

But now that you have mastered the various yoga exercises for beginners, do you want to move onto more advanced form of contortions? If the answer to that question is a firm yes, then this article will introduce you to those stances, that will enable you to twist and turn your body into any shape you want.

The benefits of yoga meditation and exercise are many and have been written and tweeted about, for a while now, thanks to its popularity among the celeb royalty of the world. Join the club.

Crow Pose
Also known as the crane pose, this is one posture that helps in strengthening the wrists, arms and abdomen of the yoga practitioner.

• Stand with your knees bent at shoulder distance. Place your arms flat on the ground. Bend yourself while doing this.
• Balance your bent knees on the back of your forearms. Start lifting your head while moving yourself forwards and balancing the weight of your body on your forearms.
• Lift your feet above the ground so that only your arms are touching the floor.

Flying Crow Pose
You need to start this posture with vrikshasana or tree pose, wherein one needs to stand on one leg, with the folded leg touching the inner thigh area of the leg you are balancing yourself on. The flying crow pose not only helps strengthen the forearms but also helps in improving your balance.

• Stand in the tree stance, on your left leg and then move your right leg from the resting position on the inner thigh to place the ankle of the right leg on the left knee.
• Bend forwards, resting your palms on the ground, and bending your left leg. Now move your right leg in such a way that the toes of your right leg are wrapped around your upper left arm.

• Then try to position your body in such a way that your elbows are bent and heels are touching the ground. It should look like you are coming out of a push-up.

• Now this is the tricky bit, where you will have to balance the weight of your body on your upper half, while lifting the left leg off the floor. The shift in weight has to be gradual as you straighten your left leg. Your right leg will continue to be hooked around your left arm.
• You can the repeat this with other side.

Pigeon Pose
You need to start the posture from the downward facing dog stance in which the only parts of your body resting flat on the ground are your palms and feet and the rest of your body forms a pyramid like structure. This particular position helps in strengthening your thighs.

• Perform the downward facing dog and then go into a down dog split, in which you will have to take the right leg upwards. Now bend the right leg at the knee and move it forward, outside the right hand.

• Now, bring both your legs towards the floor slowly, one at a time, keeping the right leg bent at the knee. Let your left leg be completely touching the floor, in a split like stance. Keep your upper body straight.
• Now repeat the same on the other side.

Eagle Pose
This is an excellent yoga posture if you are looking at increasing the flexibility and strength of your leg muscles, especially your thighs and calves.

• Stand straight and then move into the utkatasana stance or the chair posture. In this pose, your body needs to look like you are sitting on a chair with your arms extended outwards.
• Shift your body weight onto your right leg. After that lift your left leg and wrap your left thigh around your right thigh, with your left foot around your right calf.

• Bring your hands in front of your body and wrap your right hand around your left hand and then join your palms.
• Repeat the same on the other side. 

Monkey Pose
For all practical purposes, this posture is in all likeness, a split but it is the way in which you move into the pose that helps in strengthening your hamstrings.

• Kneel on the ground with thighs perpendicular to the floor.
• Now, move your right leg forwards, stretch it out, ensuring that the heel of the right foot rests on floor.
• Once you balance yourself on this position, slide your right leg forward, stretching out your left leg behind you. Continue this till you have completely stretched out your left leg as well.

King Dancer Pose
Named after the dance God of Hindu mythology, this position helps in strengthening your legs and improving your balance.

• For this pose, you need to start the stance from the tadasana pose, wherein you stand straight with your feet together and your arms outstretched above your head.

• Bend your left leg at the knee and hold the inside of your left leg with your left hand. Now move your left foot upwards towards the ceiling. As you do this, move your right hand upwards and upper body forward. Hold this position and then repeat with the other leg.

Revolved Half Moon Pose
This needs to be done after a trikonasana, where you stand with legs far apart, one foot facing outwards and other sideways. Now bend your body towards the foot facing sideways, moving the opposite hand upwards, stretching it fully. Now turn your face to look upwards. Try to move your hand as much towards the floor as possible.

• Do the trikonasana, with your left foot facing sideways. Now relax your right leg slightly and bring your right hand down. Move your left hand, a foot ahead of the right hand, with the palm flat on the floor.

• Straighten the right leg, while moving the left leg to reach a position parallel to the floor.
• Once you have balanced yourself, turn your torso to the right side and stretch your right hand upwards. Repeat this on the other side. 

Compass Pose
This strengthens your hamstrings and the stance also helps in increasing the flexibility of one's shoulders.

• Start by sitting in the cross-legged position and then bend the right knee. Once you have bent your knee, hug it to your chest.

• Unbend your left leg and outstretch it. Lift the right leg holding it with your left hand. Your right hand has to be wrapped under your right knee. Lift your right knee high. The left hand should be placed outside the right foot.
• Straighten your right leg as much as possible while taking your left hand behind your head. Repeat on the other side.

Forearm Stand
This is one of the best arm balances, which also helps in increasing the strength of shoulders, abdomen, and back. You may have to take the support of a wall initially to help you balance.

• Stand facing a wall. Place your palms flat on the floor. Now bend your elbows so as to form a right angle between your forearms and upper arms.

• Now move into the downward facing dog stance, which has been explained earlier in this article. Move your feet as close to your hands as possible.

• Bend one of your legs at the knee and using this bent knee as a crutch, kick up the other leg. Your head has to stay off the floor at all times. If you are able to get both your legs upwards, you should try to remove your feet from their balance on the wall.

Headstand
In this, the weight of your body has to be balanced by your head. This is similar to forearm stand.

• Kneel down on the floor with your hands placed on the ground, just underneath the shoulders and the knees under the hips.
• Place your forearms on the floor and interlace the fingers of both hands. Place your head on the floor, on your interlaced fingers.

• Move into the downward facing dog position and move your feet towards your head, until your hips are over your shoulders.
• Now try to kick your leg upwards. Try to balance out the weight between your forearms, shoulders, neck, and head.

Firefly Pose
This posture strengthens the forearms, shoulders, and wrists while helping a practitioner stretch his/her hamstrings.

• Take a squatting position with your legs wide apart. Place your palms flat on the floor under your feet.

• Bend your elbows backwards and start shifting your weight to your forearms. Now lift your feet off the floor taking them parallel to the ground.
• Once you have straightened your legs completely, straighten your arms making them perpendicular to the floor.

Scorpion Pose
This pose needs you to invert your body and helps in toughening your shoulders, abdominal and back muscles.

• For this stance, you need to start from the forearm stand that has been described earlier.
• Once you have achieved the pose, start bending your knees. Now lift your head, while bringing your feet near your head. Obviously to bring your feet close to your head you will need to do a back-bend. Ensure that you keep your knees apart and your toes together.

These postures can be difficult to master and should be tried only if one has achieved a certain proficiency in basic yoga poses. If done without supervision or adequate knowledge, they can result in severe injuries and cause problems that can last lifelong.

If you want to gain from benefits of yoga it is advisable to join a proper class with an instructor who can teach you the correct way to master the form. Because like Shri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, a famous yoga teacher said, "Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory"; unless you constantly practice these postures, reading about them is not going to make sense.