Salambhasarvangasana
Techniques
Lie flat on your back. Keep your legs straight at the knees. Keep your hands by the side of you legs with the palms down. Bend your knees and move your legs towards you stomach. Raise you hips from the floor and rest you hands on them by bending the arms at the elbows. Raise your trunk up perpendicularly supported by your hands until you form a chin-lock at the chest. Only the back of the head, the neck, shoulders and the back of your arms up to your elbows should rest on the floor. Keep your hands in the middle of the spine (Merundanda). Now stretch your legs straight with the toes pointing up. Stay in this position for 4 to 5 minutes with calm breathing. Now gradually slide down, release the hands, lie flat and relax. In the beginning, there is a tendency for the legs to swing out of the perpendicular. To correct this, tighten the back thigh muscles and stretch up vertically. The elbows should not be placed wider than the shoulders. Try and stretch the shoulders away from the neck and also to bring the elbows close to each other.
Benefits
Alamba means a prop or support, Salambha means supported or propped up and Sarvanga means the whole body or all the limbs. Therefore Salambha Sarvangasana means together with or accompanied by a particular part of the body. In this particular pose the whole body benefits from the exercise and therefore it is called Sarvangasana.
Cautions
The variations in Sarvangasana may safely be omitted. Only the back of the head the neck, the shoulders and the backs of the arms up to the elbows should rest on the floor. If you cannot do so, without support, use a stool and follow the procedure. Remember to bring the chest forward to touch the chin and not to bring the chin towards the chest. The elbows should not be placed wider than the shoulders. In the beginning, the neck moves sideways and if this is not corrected, it will cause pain and injure the neck. People suffering from high blood pressure should not attempt Sarvangasana unless they master and practice Halasana first and can maintain it for at least three minutes.
