Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana)
Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana)
This is a fundamental, and challenging, yoga posture.
(chaht-tour-ANG-ah don-DAHS-anna)
chatur = four
anga = limb
danda = staff
asana = posture
This pose isn’t very accessible to a lot of bodies. Dropping the knees or using a yoga wedge (Gaiam Yoga Block Wedge
Variations of this pose can be done while seated.
This pose is challenging and may bring up a lot of intense feelings for your students. Acknowledge this and encourage students to breathe deeply, plus modify or rest as needed.
Pro tip: If you choose to jump-back in a Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation), move directly into Chaturanga Dandasana. The bent elbows act as a shock absorber when you land. If you feel pain in your lower back, or can’t jump back with control, stick to stepping back until you build the proper strength.
Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana) Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. Begin in Phalakasana, plank pose, with feet hip distance and toes curled under
This is an exceptional place to stay and work on if you’re still building strength. In a vinyasa sequence, you might consider staying here for a few extra breaths rather than moving on to Chaturanga Dandasana.
2. Inhale and lean body forward, stacking shoulder heads over wrists. Palms are flat and shoulder distance. Middle fingers facing forward, or hands turned out to the side slightly for tight shoulders
Which is…totally not accessible in a lot of bodies. You might want to place a wedge underneath your palms to decrease the angle of your wrists. If you feel pain or discomfort in Phalakasana, your body may not be ready for the next steps. That’s ok! Stay here, or try lowering your knees to do a modified Chaturanga Dandasana instead.
Get a Gaiam Yoga Block Wedge
3. Exhale, lowering the torso while externally rotating the upper arms, hugging the elbows in toward the midline
It’s kinda like a push-up, except you’re holding your elbows in by your sides. Fun story: Several men I’ve taught in private lessons have been incredibly strong, easily beating me in push-up contests. But when I challenge them to hold a Chaturanga, I best them! Different muscles, so satisfying (did I mention this isn’t a contest? (: ).
4. Bend the elbows toward 90 degrees, taking your shoulder heads no lower than your elbows
This is super important! Many yogis treat this like a transition pose between their Phalakasana or Jump-Back to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog), which can hurt your shoulders over time. It looks pretty to swoop the chest down toward the ground and up in the backbend, but it compromises the shoulder joints.
5. The rest of your body’s alignment should feel like tadasana, with your legs strong and lower belly drawn up and in to support your core
That’s the four-limbed “staff” part of this. You are a strong, sturdy board. If your pet (or toddler, same thing) came to jump on your back right now, you would not cave.
6. Draw shoulders and traps away from the ears
7. Tuck your tailbone, moving the frontal hip bones forward, lengthening through all sides of the torso
We don’t want the belly to drop towards the ground because that can put pressure on the lower back and spine. If you can’t successfully hold the lower body up while lengthening the spine, drop your knees! Joint health long-term is more important than aesthetics (or impressing the cute yogi next to you).
8. Spread the shoulder blades while keeping them drawn away from the ears, and root through the base of your index finger and thumb
You want to keep your hands energized, try to center your weight so you don’t overload one side of your wrists.
9. Gaze may look down or slightly forward, keeping length through the back of the neck
Soften the forehead, I know this pose is hard!
10. Breathe
Try to hold for five breaths while you begin to find your alignment. And feel free to drop your knees if you need to in order to adjust, or even rest, listen to what your body wants!
11. To release, you may press your hips up and back to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog), or gently lower your knees, sending your hips toward your heels for Balasana (Child’s Pose).
At this point, really tune in to how your body is feeling, especially around your hands, wrists, and shoulders. This is a great moment to find intuitive movements to release that discomfort, either by rolling out the wrists, gently rocking forward and back in Down Dog, or releasing the hands toward the heels in Child’s pose.
Focus on Stretching:
The calf muscle is made up of two muscles, the gastrocnemius (forms the visible bulge) and the soleus (smaller and deep, or underneath, the gastrocnemius).
Elevator: any muscle that serves to raise a part of the body.
Shoulder Elevator muscles include the Levator scapulae, Rhomboid major, Rhomboid minor, and Trapezius.
Contraindications:
- Wrist problems, carpel tunnel
- Pregnancy (you don’t want to accidentally fall on your belly, so unless you practiced this regularly before your pregnancy, now may not be the best time to try this pose)
- Lower back (avoid jumping forward or back, step or walk your feet instead)
- Shoulder issues, dislocated, bursitis, tendonitis, rotator cuff problems
- See Modifications below
- If disabled, variations may be done while seated.
Benefits:
- Improves upper and core body strength
Common Mistakes:
- Anterior rotation (or rounding forward) in the shoulders
- Chest collapsing
- Lower back arching
- Pelvis sagging
- Elbows behind wrists
- De-energized legs
Asanas (Postures) for Preparing:
- Adho/Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
- Phalakasana
- Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Modifications, Variations & Props:
- Begin building the strength by holding Phalakasana, or plank pose, for several breaths or longer
- Drop your knees and practice half-Chaturanga until you have enough strength for the full expression
- You may also try Ashtanga Namaskara (Knees-Chest-Chin Post) to safely release yourself to the ground for a backbend if you’re unable to lower yourself in Chaturanga Dandasana with control
- Place a strap above the elbows to prevent them from splaying while learning the external rotation of the upper arms
- Place blocks under the shoulder heads, sternum and thighs to support the body while learning the alignment in this pose
- Practice your alignment against a wall to decrease the weight placed on the wrists
With a Partner:
A partner can hug your outer elbows in toward the midline if they tend to splay out. They could also place hands on the outer hips to help support the weight and teach the alignment of the pelvis.
There is an acro yoga version of this, with each partner starting in Phalakasana. One partner’s legs are wrapped on the outside, the other on the inside, with feet resting on the opposite partner’s upper thighs. While keep their cores engaged, each partner lowers to Chaturanga Dandasana in unison. Sounds hard right?
To Stabilize, Focus on Energizing the:
The intrinsic (originating within the body) foot muscles include the abductor halluces, flexor digitorum brevis, abductor digiti minimi, and the quadratus plantae. These are involved in fine motor skills, such as moving the toes.
Focus on grounding through the pads of the toes and reaching back through the heel.
Flexion: the action of bending a body part
The Ulnar Flexor, Radial Flexor, and Palmaris Longus are involved in flexing the wrist. Wrist Flexion is the action of bending your hand down at the wrist.
Focus on grounding through the index finger and thumb, activating the muscles in your forearm. This will help distribute your weight through your hands and wrists.
Focus on externally rotating the upper arms (turning your triceps back and biceps forward) before bending your elbows.
Once bent, draw your shoulders away from your ears while externally rotating them (think the opposite of hunching your shoulders forward like when you sit at a computer).
It’s easy to dump all your weight into the shoulders in this pose. If you feel like your shoulders are rounding forward, try a modification below or back out of the pose until you build the proper strength.
The Abdominals include the transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis, external oblique muscles, and internal oblique muscles.
Draw the lower belly up and in to help stabilize your spine (without holding your breath). If you feel like your back is arching toward the ground, try a modification below or drop your knees until you build enough strength.
The chest has several muscles, most well known are the “pecs,” or Pectoral muscles. Here you’ll also find the Subclavius muscle and Serratus anterior muscle (which according to wiki helps you throw a punch, nice). The Intercostal muscles between the ribs help with breathing.
Focus on opening across the collar bones (proud chest!) while rolling the shoulder heads back to keep expansion in the front body. The shoulder blades remain broad across your back.
Extension: the action of increasing the angle between two body parts
Focus on a slight internal rotation of the legs while pressing the thighs up, away from the floor, heels reaching toward the back of the room. The legs are essentially the same as Tadasana.
Go Deeper:
Place a bolster underneath your body, then practice hovering over the prop to build endurance and strength
Challenge: Start in a three-legged Down Dog, moving to a three-legged plank, and down to the three-legged Chaturanga Dandasana. Drag the grounded toes back, then roll forward to the top of the feet, into three-legged Up Dog, and finally hips move up and back into the three-legged Down Dog.
What’s Next?
- Surya Namaskara A and B (Sun Salutations)
- Nakrasana (Crocodile Pose)
- Bakasana (Crow Pose)
In a Sun Salutation, this pose leads to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, or Upward Facing Dog.
Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana) variations while seated
Sit with back against a wall, legs long like in Tadasana. With each inhale, explore reaching the crown of the head up, while rooting down through the sitz bones (sitting bones). The tailbone will be reaching toward the wall while the heels lengthen away from the body, toes flexed evenly back.
While seated, externally rotate the upper arms, drawing the elbows in toward the sides with the palms facing forward, fingers spread wide. On an inhale, press the hands away from the body, broadening across the shoulder blades keeping the arm muscles activated. Exhale, drawing the arms back in toward the sides of the body, shoulder blades draw in toward the spine. For resistance, you could explore doing this against a partner’s hands or the wall.
Recent Posts
- Amara Yoga & Arts Teacher Training 2018, Luna Pierson, Kathryn Fitzgerald and Linda Lehovec
- Yoga Asanas for preparing and stabilizing via The Mark Stephens Yoga Sequencing Deck
(affiliate link)
- Calves defintion via WebMD
- Knee Flexors defintion via Science Direct
- Hip Extensors definition via Jospt
- Back Extensors definition via Spine Health
- Shoulder Elevators definition via Wikipedia
- Intrinsic Foot Muscles definition via Ler Magazine
- Hip Flexors defintion via POSMC
- Definitions Mirriam-Webster
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