Do you ever guide your students in refining Plank Pose (Kumbhakasana), a fundamental asana? Would you like to learn more about it, so that you could do that with more fluency and effectiveness? Plank can add a good amount of versatility to Vinyasa and related asana forms. With it and through it are modifications to “up-level", “down-level", to add more vigor or ease practice. Read on for tips.
Plank Pose Basics
Spin your biceps forward, spreading your fingers wide and grounding through every part of your hand. If you need to spin your hands slightly out in order to make those happen concurrently, go ahead and do that. Fix your drishti on a diagonal forward and down. Feel your tailbone draw to your heels, and your belly scoop into your spine. Power up through your quads and hamstrings as well.
These actions taken together help create a long, strong line (sloping upwards) from the heels to the head. For Side Plank (shifted to one hand, the other rising up to the sky, and torso facing in the same direction as the raised arm), feel the top hip coming forward. It will want to fall back, potentially leading to loss of stable balance as well as even minor muscle strain. Find a small lift higher with the hips, as they also want to drop downwards.
Ensure that the bottom shoulder stays in line with its wrist, just as it was in Plank, with the top arm riding out of its shoulder. There’s a tendency for it to slip back behind the shoulder - try not to let it. Keep the belly scooping into the spine and the tailbone drawing towards the heels. Feel the feet flexing hard, such that they stay in the same shape they were in during Plank. Enjoy the feeling of a powerful and dynamic balance here, one that involves the entire body!
Down-Level
There may be numerous circumstances in which you might want to make Plank Pose less physically rigorous - including having students with limited physical capacity (from injury, advanced age, youth, et cetera), or teaching a more gentle class format that still includes Vinyasa-like elements (such as “Slow Flow” or “Gentle Flow"). A classic way to do this is to take Plank on the knees. Instruct students to make sure they’re resting just above or below the kneecaps (versus directly on them).
To take this modified Plank into a transitional flow, rather than through Chaturanga, drop the chest in between the thumbs. Allow the bum to go high. Then slide the heart forward and let the bum drop, to take Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana). Then push back through Tabletop Pose to Downward-Facing Dog. It’s also possible to modify Side Plank - from modified Plank, spin one foot behind the same-side knee. Then stack the hips to face the opposite side, with the arms the same as in traditional Side Plank.
Another modified version of Plank Pose is to do it on a wall. This can work well in private lessons or smaller classes that can provide wall space for each student, as well as those with a style and flow that will not be problematically interrupted by having students move to a wall. Have them place palms flat on a wall at shoulder height and shoulder-distance apart. Bend elbows to bring the torso closer to the wall - aiming for all the way, but any degree will help build strength, awareness, and integration. Feel the tailbone heavy and the chin slightly lifting, just like in Mountain Pose. In the case of wrist injury, an option is Dolphin Plank - which takes pressure off the wrists by distributing weight all throughout the hands, wrists, and forearms. It can feel more strenuous than traditional Plank Pose, such as in requiring more core engagement, because being lower to the ground creates a greater need to resist gravity (simply by the laws of physics). All of these versions do require core, arm, and leg strength, but in their own ways certainly less physically strenuous than a full Plank Pose (then perhaps also flowing into Chaturanga). Just as knees-down Plank Pose, it’s a smart way to “down-level" the pose, when indicated.
Up-Level
At other times, you’ll have students who will benefit from challenges added on to Plank. These include “Mountain Climbers” - taking a knee towards the chest and stepping the foot back, nothing else moving (not even the hips), and the same on the other leg, switching back and forth a few times. Feel the belly scoop into the spine for stability and strength building.
Another variation is the knee crossing the body towards the other elbow, or towards the same elbow. A sequence could be same elbow, center, opposite elbow, all again in reverse. Another option is to transition from Downward Facing Dog into any or all of the above. It can also be fun to transition from Plank to Downward-Facing Dog, with no other additions. Cue your students to roll through a Cat Pose back on the way up and down, for additional strengthening and sensing of spinal movement.
This is all some serious core strength work! To ensure that you’re not overdoing it in what you’re cueing, watch students for signs of fatigue and the lax alignment that can result (which becomes a safety issue). Make it fully clear to them that they are free to take rest whenever they need. And all of the above done with the given that these students understand, and consistently execute, safe and strong alignment. Otherwise, it’s not yet time for these additions. It’s time to step back to square one. Wishing safe, strong, harmonious practice to all!
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