Asana tip sheet #36: Pincha Mayurasana

Pincha Mayurasana (“feather of the peacock” pose) is named for the lift of a peacock’s tail feathers before they spread open.

Hold this image in your mind as you play with this pose to help you embody this beautiful creature and increase your success with this arm-balance inversion.

This stunning Indian native with its iridescent blue and green plumage is a large, loud, unique bird. The males are known for their beautiful tail feathers, thought to attract the female peahen.

Here’s a YouTube video of one truly magnificent leucistic peacock in action.

A few hints…

Use a wall at first to kick up against will allow you to play with the pose safely, finding the lift out of the shoulders and the balance point for your body and building strength.

Use openers for those tight places that hinder entry and holding of this pose, such as hamstrings and shoulders. Focus on those areas in your practice as you begin to approach pincha mayurasana.

Think, “light as a feather” when you begin lifting up. You don’t want to muscle this, but lift with control and lightness.

Keys to mastery

• Strengthen your shoulders, trunk, core, control of mula and uddiyana bandhas.
• Build your inner steadiness under challenging conditions.
• Breathe smooth ujjayi breath during the entry and keep the breath flowing once the legs are lifted.

Below are some additional details of this pose…as usual, download this tip sheet at the bottom of this post.

asana name = pincha mayurasana

• pincha = feather
• mayura = peacock
• asana = seat

benefits

• Builds (and requires) strength in core, trunk, arms, shoulders and back.
• Strengthens focus and decompresses spine.
• Provides all the great benefits of inversions—improves balance, energizes brain (increases blood flow), positively affects blood and lymphatic flow, boosts immunity, builds confidence, keeps us humble (from all those attempts before success), increases joy and more!
• Stimulates third eye chakra and udana vayu.

contraindications

• Menses.
• Pregnancy (unless you were comfortably practicing this pose before pregnancy).
• Shoulder injury.

modifications

• To prep, use adho mukha svanasana, dolphin, puppy stretch and sirsasana.
• Work with a wall or yoga buddy for safety before trying in the middle of the room.
• Foam block between hands and strap on elbows keeps base solid!

attitude

• Fierce, proud peacock

Conclusion: Pincha Mayurasana

What you can do next

• As usual, scroll down and leave us a comment, such as, are you working on pincha mayurasana? Afraid to start? Have you traveled the journey and it’s now one of you favorite inversions? Let us know!
• Get your free asana tip sheet by clicking the button below.
• If you’re missing a few of these tip sheets from your personal collection, click here to get our ebook containing the first 30 at a super-reasonable price.