Crane Pose with Right Leg Extended Back

How to do Crane Pose with Right Leg Extended Back

1. 1Begin in a stable Crane Pose (Bakasana), placing your knees high onto your upper triceps with your gaze focused slightly forward.
2. 2Hug your elbows inward toward the midline, dome your upper back, and deeply engage your core.
3. 3Shift your center of gravity slightly over your left arm while maintaining an even, powerful press through both hands.
4. 4Draw your right knee off the right tricep and pull it tightly in toward your chest.
5. 5Slowly extend your right leg straight back and slightly upward, engaging your glute and pointing through your right toes.
6. 6Keep your left knee securely anchored to your left upper arm while pressing the floor away to keep your chest lifted.
7. 7Hold for several steady breaths, then bend the right knee back to the arm before lowering to the floor.

Benefits

• Strengthens the wrists, forearms, anterior deltoids, and serratus anterior.
• Deeply engages the transverse abdominis, obliques, and pelvic floor.
• Activates and tones the gluteus maximus and hamstrings of the extended leg.
• Sharpens proprioception, spatial awareness, and asymmetrical balance.
• Improves active hip flexion on the supporting side while expanding hip extension on the lifted side.

Common mistakes and cues

• Collapsing into the wrists

  Press actively through the knuckles and finger pads to avoid dumping your entire body weight into the wrist creases.

• Dropping the gaze backward

  Fix your gaze a few inches forward onto the floor to prevent your head from dipping and causing a forward fall.

• Sagging the extended leg

  Keep the lifted leg strongly energized through the quad and glute so it acts as a counterbalance rather than dead weight.

• Flaring the elbows outward

  Maintain your elbows stacked over your wrists and hug the arms toward the midline to protect your shoulder joints.

Modifications and props

• Block under back foot

  Rest the toes of your extended back leg on a yoga block to practice the weight shift before lifting fully into the air.

• Bolster under chest

  Place a bolster horizontally beneath your chest to provide a soft landing zone while finding your balance.

• Knee-to-chest hover

  Practice lifting the right knee off your arm and pulling it into your chest without extending the leg back yet.

• Foot against the wall

  Set up near a wall and press the sole of your extended back foot into the wall to assist with elevation and balance.

Cautions

• Wrist injuries

  Avoid this pose if you have acute wrist pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, or recovering sprains.

• Shoulder impingements

  Refrain from practicing if you have active rotator cuff injuries or shoulder instability.

• Pregnancy

  The intense intra-abdominal pressure and fall risk make this advanced balance unsuitable during pregnancy.

If you are working with an injury, pregnancy or a medical condition, check with a qualified professional before practising this pose.

Practise this for

Classes that teach this pose

Upcoming Vinyasa classes where this shape shows up.

Teachers and studios for this practice

Related poses