Salabhasana

The asana's name comes from the Sanskrit {{Lang|sa|शलभा}} {{Lang|sa-Latn|shalabh}} which means "grasshopper" or "locust".{{sfn|Mehta|1990|p=92}}

The pose is not found in the medieval hatha yoga texts. It is included in Yoga Ghamande's 1905 Yogasopana Purvacatuska, the first yoga manual with printed illustrations, uniquely as halftone plates.{{cite book |last=Ghamande |first=Narayana |title=Yogasopana Purvacatuska |date=1905 |publisher=Janardan Mahadev Gurjar, Niranayasagar Press |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.365613/page/n65/mode/2up |language=Marathi |page=65}}{{cite book |last1=Diamond |first1=Debra |last2=Aitken |first2=Molly Emma |title=Yoga: The Art of Transformation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8NvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT286 |year=2013 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |isbn=978-1-58834-459-5 |page=286}} It is described independently in Swami Vishnudevananda's 1960 Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga in the Sivananda Yoga tradition, and by B. K. S. Iyengar in his 1966 Light on Yoga, implying that it may have older origins.{{cite book |last1=Sjoman |first1=Norman E. |author-link=Norman Sjoman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN8170173892 |title=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1999 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1996 |isbn=81-7017-389-2 |page=88}} A similar pose was found in Western gymnastics in The Bagot Stack Stretch-and-Swing System, 1931, though Mary Bagot Stack had visited India.{{cite book |last=Stack |first=Mary Bagot |author-link=Mary Bagot Stack |title=Building the Body Beautiful, the Bagot Stack Stretch-and-Swing System |publisher=Chapman and Hall |date=1931}}

File:Salabhasana in Yogasopana 1905.jpg|Salabhasana in Yogasopana Purvacatuska, 1905

File:Schistocerca gregaria - less color 2 (cropped).JPG|A locust, Schistocerca gregaria, both head and 'tail' up

File:Seal posture Mollie Bagot Stack 1931.jpg|Mary Bagot Stack in "Seal" posture, 1931

Salabhasana is entered from a prone position. The legs are stretched out straight and lifted; the arms are stretched straight back, palms down, and lifted; the head is lifted and the gaze is directed straight ahead.{{sfn|Mehta|1990|p=92}}

It is a back bend, or spine stretch, utilizing the strength of the upper and middle back to lift the weight of the legs as high as possible from a starting position while face down on the floor. It improves flexibility and coordination, exercises the back muscles, and increases strength and stamina.{{cite book |title=Structural Yoga Therapy: Adapting to the Individual |first=Mukunda |last=Stiles |publisher=Red Wheel |year=2000 |isbn=1-57863-177-7 }}

Ardha Salabhasana (Half Locust Pose) raises one leg and the opposite arm at a time; the other arm may rest on the floor or be folded over the back.{{cite book |last=Pratap |first=Vijayendra |title=Beginning Yoga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Z0zcWPkxNkC&pg=PA26 |year=1997 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-0-8048-2104-9 |page=26 }}{{cite book |author=Mohanty |title=Managing Common Musculoskeletal Conditions by Physiotherapy & Yoga|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTmvNMD1pYEC&pg=PA15 |publisher=Jaypee Brothers Publishers |isbn=978-81-8448-357-4 |page=15 }}

In Bikram Yoga, Salabhasana, following another reclining backbend, Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose, is performed in stages. First, the arms are placed under the body pointing straight towards the feet, palms downwards, and the chin is rested on the floor. Then the left and right legs are lifted alternately. Finally, both legs are lifted together.{{cite web |title=Salabhasana {{!}} Locust |url=http://www.bychotyoga.co.uk/portfolio-posts/salabhasana/ |publisher=BYC |access-date=2 January 2019 }} (Three web pages)

File:Half-locust pose.jpg|Half Locust Pose, variant moving leg only

File:Salabhasana_Yoga-Asana_Nina-Mel.jpg|Variant arm position

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Iyengar |first=B. K. S. |author-link=B. K. S. Iyengar |title=Illustrated Light on Yoga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbx5AAAACAAJ |date=1 October 2005 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-81-7223-606-9 |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last1=Mehta |first1=Silva; Mehta, Mira; Mehta, Shyam |date=1990 |title=Yoga: The Iyengar Way |publisher=Dorling Kindersley}}
• {{cite book |last=Saraswati |first=Swami Satyananda |author-link=Swami Satyananda Saraswati |title=Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpR1QgAACAAJ |date=1 August 2003 |publisher=Nesma Books India|isbn=978-81-86336-14-4 |ref=none}}

{{Asana}}

{{Yoga as exercise}}

Category:Reclining asanas

Category:Backbend asanas