Category: Inversions
Level: intermediate
Hold: 30 seconds to 2 minutes
Type: Asana
Breath: Slow and even; the front of the body is compressed, so let the breath widen into your back.

Plow Pose

Halasana — "plow posture"

From shoulderstand, the legs fold overhead until the toes reach the floor behind your head. A deep stretch for the entire back body and neck — and one where blanket support under the shoulders really matters.

Step by step

1Set up as for shoulderstand, with folded blankets under your shoulders and your head on the floor.
2Lie on your back, press your arms down, and lift your legs up and overhead.
3Support your back with your hands as your feet travel past your head.
4Lower your toes toward the floor behind your head, legs straight if they reach comfortably.
5If your toes land, you can extend your arms on the mat behind your back and interlace your fingers.
6Keep your weight on your shoulders, neck long and untouched by load — never turn your head.
7To exit, support your back with your hands and roll down slowly with control.

Benefits

✓ Deeply stretches the spine, shoulders, and hamstrings
✓ Often practiced as a quieting pose near the end of a session
✓ Pairs naturally with shoulderstand as an entry or exit
✓ Releases the upper back after a day at a desk

Make it yours

· Rest your feet on a chair seat or a stack of blocks behind your head instead of the floor.
· Keep your hands supporting your back throughout rather than releasing the arms.
· Practice with your hips over your face and knees bent, without lowering the feet all the way.

Take care

Avoid with neck injuries or ongoing neck pain — the neck is deeply flexed here.
Full inversions with strong neck flexion are generally not advised with high blood pressure, glaucoma or other eye conditions, or during pregnancy.
If breathing feels restricted, come partway up — comfort of breath is the test.

This is general practice guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts, ease out of it.

Practiced in

Props that help here

Yoga blanket — Folded under the hips in seated poses, under the knees in kneeling ones, under the shoulders for shoulderstand. A firm household blanket works too. find one
Wrist wedge — Reduces the wrist angle in plank, chaturanga, and arm balances. Worth trying before concluding your wrists can't do this. find one

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