Holistic living is something we all desire for! While familiar with yoga, we often define yoga as stretching or flexibility. Today, many local schools, gyms, fitness centres, etc., have been radiating the knowledge of yoga and its practices.
Asanas are an effective yoga aid for stabilising both your body and mind. Shashankasana, or rabbit pose, derives its meaning from the ‘moon’, known as the moon pose. Alternatively, this pose is also known as the rabbit pose, as the final stages of this pose resemble the position of a rabbit.
Including Shashankasana in your daily yoga practice is a great option, but before you start with it, you should understand that it’s inside out. In this blog post, you will learn a lot about the rabbit pose, how to do it and its benefits. So, read till the end!
More on Shashankasana
Rabbits are famous for their agility, alertness, and flexibility in navigating complex spaces. The practice of this Shashankasana or rabbit pose helps you imbibe a rabbit’s qualities. Moreover, it is an excellent way of connecting your inner self with the nature around you. And yes, it clears off a lot of emotional and mental clutters around you. The rabbit pose is an excellent way of strengthening your spine and allowing it to lengthen the space between its vertebrae.
Rabbit pose also helps you realign your chakras – the crown chakra, third eye chakra, solar plexus chakra, sacral chakra, and root chakra. As you know, the chakras form the critical centre of your body; each chakra relates well with your physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological well-being. Any malfunctioning or misalignment in these chakras may result in various physical or emotional disorders.
How to Do Shashankasana
Now that you know what Shashankasana is, let’s dive deep into how you do it. Here are quick steps to practise the rabbit pose daily:
Step 1
Firstly, you need to sit in the Vajrasana position. For those unfamiliar with the Vajrasana position, this is a position where you sit with your knees bent and palms placed on it.
Step 2
Spread your knees apart and have your big toes touch each other.
Step 3
Thirdly, start inhaling gradually by placing your palms on your knees.
Step 4
Fourthly, exhale the air you breathe and lean forward by outstretching your arms. Place your chin on the ground.
Step 5
Maintain both your arms parallel to each other.
Step 6
Keep staring in the front direction while maintaining your head straight.
Step 7
Slowly raise your body to the Vajrayana position.
Step 8
Come to the dandasana position by extending your legs in front of you and maintaining the erectness of your spine.
Step 9
Come to rest in the vishramasana pose by extending both legs before you. Keep your hands behind your hips while turning your fingers away from you.
Shashankasana Steps for Beginners
Here are the Shashankasana steps for beginners to gain expertise with the bits and pieces of rabbit pose.
- Rabbit pose beginners should always start with a thunderbolt pose.
- Inhale usually and stretch your arms straight upward by extending your spine.
- Exhale out normally. Fold your body in the forward direction from your hip. Bend down towards the floor, bring your chin, nose, and forehead towards the ground, and try to touch it. If it does not usually feel the ground, avoid forcing the touch.
- Stretch both arms before you and allow them to touch the ground.
- Maintain a proper breathing pattern and be comfortable while performing this pose.
- Release the rabbit pose slowly and return to your resting phase. Once you are back, perform some deep and gentle breathing.
What are the Shashankasana Benefits?
There are several critical benefits of practising rabbit pose regularly. Some of them are listed here –
- Spine strength– Shashankasana offers excellent flexibility, stretch, and strength to your spine.
- Blood flow Regulation– It regulates the flow of your blood to your abdomen, aiding your digestive tract to protect you from bloating. Furthermore, it enhances blood flow to your brain, supporting and increasing focus, memory retention, and concentration.
- Effects on Different Glands– Rabbit pose stimulates your essential glands – pineal, pituitary, and thyroid.
- Reproductive Disorders– It alleviates the disorders of the reproductive organs of both sexes.
- Mental Health– It helps soothe your nerves and relieve your stress and anxiety levels, improving your mental well-being.
- Healthy Heart– One of the critical benefits of Shashankasana is that it enhances the health of your heart. It regulates your blood flow, pressure, and heart rate.
- Weight Management– the next benefit of Shashank Asana is its help in weight management. It regulates your weight by reducing obesity. Several researchers vouch for the benefit of Shashankasana or rabbit posture for significantly decreasing your BMI after regular practice.
- Sciatica is a medical condition when you have an inflammation in your sciatic nerve. Shashankasana is known to destress the superficial and deep muscles, relieve the pain in your lower back, and improve the flexibility of your spine.
- Digestive Disorders– Shashankasana’s benefit of relieving irritable bowel syndrome is still unknown to many. It is an excellent way of releasing your digestive disorders if practised regularly.
- Diabetes– Research indicates positive Shashank asana benefits on your blood sugar levels. It has helped many people to relieve their type 2 diabetes. This follows a gradual decline in your preprandial or fasting sugar levels.
- Cholesterol– You cannot miss this significant Shashankasana benefit of reducing cholesterol levels. Regular practice helps reduce your total and harmful cholesterol levels.
- Stress Management– Shashankasana is an excellent way of relieving yourself from the clutter of your daily work-life stress. It has shown promising results with anger issues if practised daily.
Shashankasana Contraindications
Even though Shashankasana is highly beneficial in managing our overall health, it has a few contraindications. Below are the contraindications of Shashank asana or rabbit pose you should keep a note of before making it a part of your daily exercise routine.
Depression
People suffering from chronic depression should avoid indulging in these asanas. This asana requires a controlled breathing practice, which might result in triggering anxiety issues in patients suffering from depression.
Pregnancy
Pregnant women should only perform Shashankasana under the guidance and supervision of a yoga practitioner. If possible, avoid practising it altogether. The final rabbit yoga pose could cause discomfort in pregnant women.
Vertigo
People suffering from vertigo should also avoid indulging in regular Shashankasana practice. This asana requires bending forward and placing your forehead on the ground, which may trigger an immediate episode of vertigo, thereby resulting in nausea, vomiting, and dizziness in individuals.
Surgeries
Shashankasana benefits by releasing the tension built up on your spine and shoulder due to excessive physical exercise. Hence, people who have been operated on recently should avoid performing this asana as it might cause trauma to their bones and muscles, resulting in injuries and discomfort.
Shashankasana Precautions
Just like there are a lot of Shashank asana benefits, there are specific safety and precautionary measures here, too, that you need to take note of the points below.
- Avoid performing Shashank asana or rabbit pose if you have frequent issues related to abdominal injuries, shoulder injuries, back injuries, slipped discs, or knee injuries.
- Pregnant and menstruating women should refrain from indulging in regular Shashankasana poses.
- Make it a habit of doing this asana either early in the morning before your food or 3 to 4 hours after having it.
- Ensure that you do not force your head to touch down to the ground if your body is not allowing you to do so.
- Beginners should perform Shashank asana or rabbit poses under the surveillance of a professional yoga practitioner only. Initially, simple variations can help you gain a grip on the asana.
Tips for Practising Shashankasana Yoga Steps Correctly
Here are a few quick tips to ponder while performing the Shashank asana or rabbit pose:
- Choose an even and a soft surface to perform this pose.
- Make it a regular habit to practise this pose. You can set phone reminders if you often forget or find adhering to a strict routine challenging.
- In the initial stages, refrain from forcing your head to touch the ground. It will gradually happen as you progress.
- A cushion or a blanket could be a great help in providing a cushioning effect to your forehead.
- Make sure you maintain a regular breathing routine throughout your posing schedule.
- Maintaining a proper physical alignment is crucial to ensure you enjoy this as a safe and comfortable asana.
- Learn rabbit pose with guided experts via online consultation on FlexifyMe.
Conclusion
Shashankasana is an excellent posture in yoga practice to reduce the pain in your back and strengthen the muscles of your arms, back, legs, and abdomen. Its commendable support in managing health issues such as weight, anger, stress, etc. Additionally, it has proven beneficial in diabetes management. With the guidance of a well-qualified professional or yoga practitioner, you can quickly gain a grip on all the variations of the rabbit pose and enjoy the health benefits that come along.
