How to Do Crow Pose (Bakasana) Menu Verywell Fit Nutrition Weight Management Nutrition Facts Nutrition Basics Diets Meal Plans Meal Delivery Services View All News Fitness and Nutrition What to Buy How We Test Products Fitness Gear Nutrition Products Tools Recipe Nutrition Calculator Weight Loss Calorie Goal BMI Calculator Body Fat Percentage Calculator Calories Burned by Activity Daily Calories Burned Pace Calculator About Us Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Search Yoga Poses How to Do Crow Pose (Bakasana) in Yoga Proper Form, Variations, and Common Mistakes By Ann Pizer Ann Pizer Ann Pizer is a writer and registered yoga instructor who teaches vinyasa/flow and prenatal yoga classes. Learn about our editorial process Updated on July 22, 2021 Reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by nutrition and exercise professionals. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Sara Clark Reviewed by Sara Clark Sara Clark is an EYT 500-hour certified Vinyasa yoga and mindfulness teacher, lululemon Global Yoga Ambassador, model, and writer. Learn about our Review Board Print Verywell / Ben Goldstein Table of Contents View All Table of Contents Benefits Step-by-Step Instructions Common Mistakes Modifications and Variations Safety and Precautions Also Known As: Crane Pose, Frog Stand Targets: Abdominals, arms, wrist, upper back Level: Intermediate Crow Pose is often the first arm balance that yoga students tackle. Though it looks like it's all about arm strength, the keys are actually learning where your center of gravity is and how to distribute your weight so that you can balance. The biggest hurdle to overcome is usually a reluctance to move enough of your weight forward into your hands. When you find that sweet spot, the feet just pop off the floor almost on their own. Benefits Crow Pose strengthens the wrist, forearms, and abdomen while stretching your upper back. It improves balance and core strength. Mastering Crow builds your yoga confidence and opens the door to many more poses involving arm balance. It can also improve your awareness of where your body is in space (called proprioception) and enhance your body control. 12 Facts You Should Know About Yoga Step-by-Step Instructions Begin by standing in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) with your arms at your sides. Breathe steadily throughout this pose. Bend your knees slightly so that you can bring your palms flat on the floor, about shoulder distance apart. Plant your palms firmly on the mat about a foot in front of your feet. Spread your fingers wide and press into the top joint of each finger. Bend your elbows straight back. Don't bend them into full Chaturanga arms, but head in that direction. Come up onto the balls of your feet and open your knees so that they line up with your upper arms. Place your knees on the backs of your upper arms. Begin to bring your weight forward into your hands, lifting your head as you go. Come up onto your tiptoes, lifting one foot and then the other off the floor. Engage the inner thighs for support while keeping the knees on the arms. Hug your feet toward your butt. Focus on the feeling of the body lifting. Avoid sinking into the pose, which can dump weight into the shoulders. To come out, exhale and transfer your weight back until your feet come back to the floor. Common Mistakes Once you come up into the pose, do not let your elbows splay out to either side. Keep them in line with your shoulders and wrists. Otherwise, you will be placing too much weight on the outside of the wrists, which can lead to injury. You can help prevent this by really gripping your fingertips into the ground and making sure your elbows are over your wrists. Your knees should be as high up into your arms as you can get them, not allowing your legs to rest on your arms. Be sure you are using your core muscles to hold the legs up and not just relying on your hips. Keep your gaze lifted to the horizon. Do not look down or let your head drop. This will cause you to tip forward and lose balance. The trickiest part of the pose is figuring out how to transfer enough weight onto your hands so that your feet come up but you don't pitch forward. Practice regularly at home so you learn what using the right technique feels like. Modifications and Variations If you find the move difficult, there are modifications you can use until you build your confidence. Once you are adept at the pose, you can add variations, such as the Side Crow Pose. Need a Modification Some people like to start out with a block under their feet. You can try this and see how it feels. Lift one foot at a time if you can't quite get both feet up yet. This helps you build strength and get a feel for the technique. Up for a Challenge Work on straightening your arms, which then is properly called the Crane Pose. You can also try jumping back to Chaturanga. If you've mastered that, try jumping from Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) directly into Crow. Moving from Crow to Tripod Headstand (Salamba Sirasana II) and back adds another element of challenge. Yoga Poses for Every Part of Your Body Safety and Precautions This is a pose to avoid if you have any wrist or shoulder injury or condition such as carpal tunnel syndrome, and it is also not recommended if you are pregnant. Put a blanket in front of you so you won't be afraid of hitting your head if you fall. Chances are you will tip forward at least once while learning this pose. You want that to be as soft of a landing as possible. Try It Out Incorporate this move and similar ones into one of these popular workouts: Yoga Arm Balances Yoga Poses for Arm Strength Yoga Poses for Abs 3 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Sandhu D. How to do Crane Cow Pose (Bakasana) and benefits. Yoga Health Journal. Mohanty S, Pradhan B, Nagathna R. The effect of yoga practice on proprioception in congenitally blind students. Brit J Visual Impair. 2014;32(2):124-35. doi:10.1177/0264619614522132 Irani GS. Injuries/harms resulting from incorrect adjustments/alignments performed by yoga asana practitioners. Arch Pharm Pract. 2020;11(3):38-47. By Ann Pizer Ann Pizer is a writer and registered yoga instructor who teaches vinyasa/flow and prenatal yoga classes. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit Related Articles 7 Best Poses to Try With a Yoga Wheel Past the Basics: Yoga Poses for Intermediate Levels Start Your Yoga Practice With a Sun Salutation Warm up Sequence Arm Balance Fun With the Side Crow Pose 31 Yoga Poses for Beginners How to Work on the Elusive Psoas Muscle With Yoga 11 Accessible Chair Exercises for Older Adults Introduction to Vinyasa Flow Yoga Yoga Poses That Will Improve Your Arm Strength Try the Hurdler Pose for a Challenging Arm Balance How to Do Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) Learn to Safely Advance the Side Plank Exercise Try This Upper Body Strength and Endurance Superset Challenge Try Firefly Pose (Tittibhasana) for a Yoga Arm Balance Challenge Learn About Yoga Arm Balances for Intermediate to Advanced Practice Learn to Hover Like a Dragonfly With This Yoga Arm Balance When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Cookies Settings Reject All Accept All