Inverted Locust · Viparita Shalabhasana
Viparita Shalabhasana · 비파리타 샬라바사나 · 뒤집힌 메뚜기
Advanced Series · Sthira Bhaga (Strength & Grace) — From Advanced A (Third Series)
Breath: 5 · Drishti (gaze): nose tip
Arms trapped beneath the prone body, sweep the legs up and past vertical toward the head, the chest and chin carrying everything. The extreme of spinal extension with serious cervical load — territory handled only under a teacher's hands.
Alignment
- Hands — palms down beneath the body as the platform
- Feet — pointed, rising and then traveling over the head
- Knees — as straight as possible, sharing the weight into shoulders and chest
- Gaze — the nose tip, chin on the floor
Entering the pose
- Prone, arms beneath the body
- Sweep the legs up and over
- Balance on the chest, breathing
Common mistakes
- Weight jamming into the chin and cervicals
- Swinging the legs over with momentum
Modifications & props
- Prone with the feet walking up a wall behind you safely grows the angle of the send-over.
- Thick blankets under shoulders and chest make the chest, never the neck, the support.
- Legs to vertical only — carrying them past the head belongs to days when a teacher's hands hold the arc.
Benefits
- The extreme of spinal extension and back strength
- The whole front body lengthens intensely
- A test of advanced backbend control
Role in the sequence
Shalabhasana from the start of Intermediate, literally inverted. Prone, chest pressing the floor, the legs travel over the head toward the sky — the pose that once lifted the legs by back strength now sends them past vertical by the same engine. Its rare chin-and-chest support makes it the direct stair to Ganda Bherundasana next.
Practice notes
The inverted locust: Shalabhasana from the Intermediate Series, lifted into the air. Supported on the hands and forearms, the legs travel over the head until the toes point down toward the floor — one of the deep backbends of the Advanced Series.
This is a question of control rather than flexibility. Gravity brings the legs over on its own, but without governing the speed of that arrival the lower back folds all at once and the impact lands in the lumbar spine. The speed of the descent is the quality of the pose.
The preparation stands on two poses: Viparita Dandasana and Pincha Mayurasana. Without enough strength to hold the body on the forearms the shoulders collapse and the chest closes, and then the legs have nowhere to travel. Five comfortable breaths in each of those comes first.
Two checks: is the chest still opening forward (closed shoulders mean only the lower back folds), and has the breath stopped? This is among the harder poses to learn alone, so learning it where a teacher can watch is the safer route.
Never without a teacher — the cervical load is serious.
Written by Choi Seongjin — 20 years of Ashtanga practice, currently teaching three classes a week. Last updated: .
This guide is for general information and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant, injured, or have a medical condition, consult a qualified teacher or physician before practising. Disclaimer & Legal Notice
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