Peacock.

The peacock is the national bird of India, and is associated with Saraswati, a deity representing benevolence, patience, kindness, compassion and knowledge.

There is a fun asana called Mayurasana, which translates to Peacock Pose, and I love the origin of the name.  The peacock is one of the only animals that can successfully digest a scorpion.  Therefore, the idea behind practicing this asana is to get a stomach of steel, where you too are immune to stomach ailments. 

This pose is wonderful for the digestive system and aids in detoxifying the entire system. Due to the pressure  of the elbows against the abdominal area, blood circulates to the abdominal organs, improving digestion and preventing the accumulation of toxins.  It also develops and strengthens the forearms and wrists.

There are a number of ways to get into this asana. The best way for me, when I was first playing with this pose was to start with my legs curled close to my body in either lotus or baddhakonasana (butterfly).

Come to stand on your knees, with your arms in front of you, fingers facing towards your knees. Bend your elbows, leaning your front torso onto the backs of your upper arms and burrowing your elbows deep into your belly at or below the navel.

Once you have your arms in position, you can start to work on lifting your legs by bringing your body weight more forward and looking a few feet in front of your face.

If you would like to go further, you can start to work with straightening your legs by coming to plank and lifting one leg then the other leg, working with balance.

Once you are ready to lift both your legs, keep in mind that you are trying to keep them together and stiff.  On your exhale, lean your weight forward to your hands and lift your legs, stretching your trunk and head forward.  If your legs and buttocks are firm and active, this slight shift of weight will lever your feet off the floor without too much effort.

Hold for 10 second, gradually working your way to 30-60 seconds.  To come out of this pose, lower your head and feet to the floor, bend your knees and lift your torso off your arms.

As you practice this more, try to keep your hands, forearms and elbows together. 

Remember that this is your yoga practice, not yoga perfect.  Have fun and fall often!  Falling is part of learning, it means you have pushed yourself to new places. Besides, you don't have that far to fall, you are almost on the ground anyway.

You will get all the detoxifying benefits just by resting your elbows into your belly,  there is no pressure to ever lift your legs off the ground.  If arm balancing does not feel right for you, just work with the first step.

Namaste,
Jacqui.