Wheel Pose Yoga Pose

Description

How to Do Wheel Pose Yoga Pose

1. 1
   Setup

   Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat on the floor hip-width apart, and heels close to your glutes.

2. 2
   Setup

   Place your hands on the floor beside your ears, fingers pointing towards your shoulders, with elbows pointing upwards.

3. 3

   Inhale, then press through your hands and feet, lifting your hips and chest off the floor.

4. 4

   Continue to push, extending your arms and legs to lift your body into a full arch, allowing your head to hang gently.

5. 5

   Hold the pose, breathing deeply, maintaining strong engagement in your glutes and hamstrings to support your back.

6. 6

   To exit, slowly lower your upper back, then your hips, to the mat, tucking your chin to your chest.

Tips

• Thoroughly warm up your spine, shoulders, and wrists with gentle stretches like cat-cow and wrist rotations before attempting Wheel Pose.
• Focus on lifting your hips towards the ceiling as much as possible to create space in your lower back and deepen the arch.
• Keep your elbows drawing in towards each other; avoid letting them splay out wide, which can strain your shoulders.
• Distribute your body weight evenly between your hands and feet, actively pressing into all four corners of both to stabilize the pose.

Common Mistakes

• ×Allowing elbows to splay outwards reduces shoulder stability; fix this by actively drawing your elbows towards each other.
• ×Not engaging the glutes and hamstrings can strain the lower back; fix this by squeezing your glutes and pressing through your feet to lift your hips higher.
• ×Craning the neck or dropping the head too far back without support can cause discomfort; fix this by allowing your head to hang naturally, keeping the neck long and relaxed.