Health Benefits of Crocodile Pose

Makarasana is one of the most reliable and vital asanas in Yoga with several health benefits. It is also called crocodile pose. The name Makarasana has been derived from Sanskrit words, where Makara means Crocodile and asana means pose. So, mixing all these words is known as the crocodile pose. This pose highly resembles a crocodile while resting within the ocean and is therefore called a crocodile pose.

Follow these steps to do Makarasana:

• To start doing this asana, get into the yoga mat and lie straight on your stomach.
• Now join your elbows and, using your forearms, make a stand, then keep your chin on your palms.
• Now while breathing slowly, start lifting your chest.
• Keep your elbows and your legs together.
• Now start breathing in and breathing out in this position.
• If you are a beginner, then hold on to this position for about 3-4 breathe.
• To get a release from this position, come to the initial work, take a deep breath, and then relax by keeping your leg straight.
• Now again, you can repeat this pose. You must do at least ten repetitions of this pose for getting better outcomes.

At first, when you start doing this asana, you will feel some pain in your leg, shoulder, knee, and abdomen, but as soon as you start practicing more, you will be able to do this asana very quickly. If you want to learn more about this yoga asana practice then we strongly recommend you to check out the best yoga school in Rishikesh and start with the 200 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh to become a certified yoga instructor.

What are the different health benefits of MakaraSana or crocodile pose?

When you do Makarasana regularly, you will get several benefits for your different body parts. The longer you hold on to this pose, the more benefits you will get. We carry out several activities that hurt our back in our daily lifestyle, like sitting on a desk for a long time, resting on the bed in the wrong position. In such a lifestyle, Makarasana offers you a lot of benefits:

• Makarasana makes your back, abdomen, hips, and legs strong: Several studies have proved that when you practice Makarasana regularly, it helps you to stretch your back, hip muscles, abdomen, and legs. With this, blood flow increases in these areas, and muscles get a high amount of oxygen and nutrition, which assist them in strengthening. You can prevent several injuries in your back, legs, hips, and other such works with regular practice.
• Makarasana fuels your sacrum: When you do Makarasana, several muscles present around the sacrum are contracted. The sacrum is a bone located near the base of your spine, primarily in the inside of your two hip bones. Sacrum gives support to your spine and helps in making your hips flexible. Stimulation of your sacrum assists in eliminating all blockages in your spine.
• Enhances the functioning of your abdominal organs: While lying down on your stomach in Makarasana position and taking deep breaths, the breathing will massage the abdominal area that assists in the functioning of various abdominal organs such as the spleen pancreas, intestines, and bladder. A few Yoga poses help enhance all abdominal organs, and Makarasana or crocodile pose is among them.
• Helps in relaxing your respiratory and circulatory system: When you relax on your stomach doing Makarasana pose, the requirement of oxygen and blood flow throughout your body decreases. This offers a very relaxing period to your whole circulatory and respiratory system.
• Eases your spine and back: The natural body posture of all human beings puts high pressure on your spine and your back. While sitting and walking and while sleeping, there is significantly less support of our back to our body. But when you lie down on your stomach, your spine and your back get relaxed.

Some of the common mistakes to avoid while doing Makarasana

Doing Makarasana or crocodile yoga in the wrong way can put you at risk of injury. Here are a few mistakes you must avoid while doing the steps of Makarasana:

• Do not get rushed while lifting: The primary benefit you get by doing Makarasana is the relief your back gets. But when you lift your body in a hurry, it will be harmful to your back. Rapidly doing this can put pressure on the upper part of your body. Doing this gradually can enhance body flexibility and decreases back pain.
• Never put pressure on your back: While doing optional lifting of your body, it is pretty tempting to look at the ceiling or the sky. But it is often recommended not to look in an upward direction. Rather gaze forward. When you do Makarasana pose for a long time, you must look downward. Looking in an upward trend will put pressure on your neck, and it will strain your neck.
• Do not try plank position during start: The plank position is somewhat similar to the crocodile pose. In Makarasana, you have to lift your upper body, while you have to raise both the upper and lower body in the plank position. When a beginner does a plank position from a crocodile pose, there is a high chance that you will lose balance and fall on the ground. Therefore, a beginner must always try to learn the Makarasana pose and then something else.
• Rotate your shoulder blades very carefully: When you lower your body down for touching the mat and bring your hand and arm to a comfortable position, it might lead to some injury. Therefore, ensure that you have moved your arms and shoulder blades carefully when your upper body touches the ground in the Makarasana pose.

Makarasana is no doubt one of the best yoga poses. But the ease of doing it does not mean that they have fewer benefits. It is advantageous to a large portion of your body, from the circulatory and respiratory systems to your back and all abdominal organs. So, benefit from this easy and efficient Yoga pose and then slowly add it to your daily yoga regime.