Crow Pose, or Kakasana, is often confused with Crane Pose, or Bakasana. The poses are similar, with the primary difference being the arm position - the arms are bent in Crow, and straight in Crane. The bent arms are more similar to the shorter legs of a crow, where as the straight arms are longer, like the longer legs of a crane. We will talk about both poses in this blog.
Crow/Crane Pose was the first arm balance that I learned, and remains my favorite today.
The legend behind Crow/Crane Pose, has few variations, but here is the most basic version:
Five brothers were exiled after their family lost to another family to become ruler of their land. The five brothers wondered the forests, hungry and thirsty. They saw a lake from their camp, and four of the five brothers went to get water. When they arrived, a giant crane (baka in Sanskrit) warned them not to drink from the lake, or they would die. Unbeknownst to the brothers, this was no crane, but actually Yama, the God of Death/Yakama, a forest ogre (depending on the version).
The brothers disregarded this warning and all drank from the lake, and then died shortly after. The last brother, wondering why his brothers hadn't returned, went to the lake himself. There he found his four dead brothers and the crane. The crane issued him the same warning, which he heeded. However, he was upset that his brothers were dead. The crane offered a solution - if the remaining brother could answer his questions appropriately, he would revive the deceased brothers.
The living brother was able to answer all the questions, (ranging from 4-124, depending on the version), many of which were philosophical in nature, or academic, and the dead brothers were all revived.
The brother had to have a balance of smarts and soul to answer these questions, hence the balancing nature of Crow/Crane, and of course the visual representation of the Crane.
Crow/Crane Pose isn't as much about upper body strength as it is about core strength and balance. Some helpful tips when working in Crow/Crane Pose:
Spread the fingers wide and root into all four corners of your palms.
Hug the elbows into the body, and then, once the knees are placed above the elbows, squeeze those into the body as well.
Find a non-moving point in your line of vision to focus on.
You can always utilize a block under the toes as you perfect your hand and arm positions.
A block can also be placed under the forehead.
Begin by lifting only one foot off the ground at a time - then progress to both feet as you feel stable.
Keep the core engaged to create additional stability.
Crow/Crane Pose is great for building endurance, as well clearing your mind - it takes a lot of focus for this pose, so there isn't room for much else. While I did say Crow/Crane isn't all about arm strength, it will help strengthen the arms and shoulders the more it is practiced.
Arm balances can be intimidating, so if that is the case for you, give Crow/Crane Pose a try as your first attempt!
-Charlene
This is an interesting read Charlene; I hadn't heard of this story behind the pose so thank you for sharing!