Halasana | Plough Pose

Yoga is an ancient meditation dating back to the pre-Vedic times in India and is estimated to date back to 3000 BCE. It is a sum of several physical, mental, and spiritual practices that largely consist of poses, postures, exercises, or asanas.

It offers amazing benefits for weight loss, physical pains, and mental disorders. Persisting with it is conclusively linked to improved levels of energy, metabolism rates, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels while offering correction in your posture and stance.

One such yoga asana that checks all these boxes of advantages is Halasana or the Plough Pose.

Halasana (or the Plow Pose)

Halasana or Plough pose is an important inverted asana and exercise in hatha yoga. It comprises of two words, hala meaning plough (or plow) and asana meaning pose. It is thus done as turning one’s body in the shape of a farmer’s plough.

It could be done in two variants: Karnapidasana (with the knees by the ears) and Supta Konasana (with the feet wide apart). One should do it every day early morning for the best results. The best way to do is to do it under the guidance of a yoga expert because if done improperly, it can also come back quickly to hurt you.

Tip: It would be advisable to use a premium yoga mat to have a firm and non-slippery base for your asanas. One may choose from reversible, TPE and organic cork variants.

Benefits of Halasana:

Halasana or plough pose is not an easy asana to do but it does come with a lot of health benefits. It is known to offer exceptional degrees of results of calming one’s mind and curing physical pains. You can also expect it to reduce the after-effects of stress and depression.

Also read: Backache, Headache, Failing Eyesight, Indigestion: There Is Yoga For Everything!

The best thing about doing this laying down pose is that it calms your brain and offers therapeutic support to your back. It is one of the best yoga poses to do to increase the blood flow in the lumbar and thoracic organs, and to ensure that the nervous system stays calmer.

Here are some of the other physical and mental benefits that one can derive from doing the Halasana pose every day:

Destresses and declutters the mind
Increases metabolism and boosts digestion
Stimulates the thyroid gland
Reduces sprains and pains in the shoulders and spine
Regularizes menopause
Reduces fatigue
Cures various types of hormonal imbalances
Cures backache, headache, infertility, sleeplessness, and sinus

The key is not to overdo it or to do it in an improper or ill-advised manner.

How to Do It?

Our virtual yoga experts advise you on the simplest and easiest way to do the plow pose yoga correctly. Here’s how to go about it:

Lie down on your back and keep your feet flat on the floor.
Place your arms by your side and bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor.
Slowly raise your legs from the hips.
Place your hands on your hips as you raise them and use them as support.
Now slowly bend your legs at the hips and try to touch the floor behind your head with your toes and straighten your hands so they are flat on the floor.
Exhale while you go up.
To return to the lying position, gently roll your back onto the floor and try breathing slowly.

Caution: Do not drop down suddenly because this might cause an injury to your back.

Hold this position for 1-2 minutes depending on how much can you sustain. With practice, you can go on for long.
Repeat this 3-5 times for better results.

Who Should Not Perform This Asana?

As amazing as this yoga asana is, it does not come without a few sets of precautions. Our Yoga experts advise against committing to the Halasana pose in the following conditions:

If you are in the middle of menstruation period.
During your pregnancy.
If you are suffering hernia, high BP, or back problems.

Everyone else can simply join in the fun and choose to do yoga (or Zen) to live and calmer life, away from stress and depression. The benefits are immense, as any disciple of this Vedic meditation technique will tell you.