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How to do the one hand over arm balance in yoga

Read about the steps I took to try to learn to master the one hand over arm balance, and follow my progress as I share my successes.

The one hand over arm balance is an extremely challenging yoga posture, since it requires strength in your arms and shoulders, and also a lot of strength in your abs (especially the side abs).

You can find the description of this yoga posture in the Yoga Bible.

The beginning
I’ve been trying to master this pose for almost one month now without much success (until today). The one hand over arm balance is a posture I practise every day at the end of my yoga session.

While it is fairly easy to lift your butt off the ground, it is more challenging to lift one leg and keep it off the ground.

Jan 7, 2012: Managed lift off
Today I was able to lift my legs off the ground for one second. The key was to tuck my tailbone under and flex the abs at the side of the leg that should be raised off the ground.

Lifting the legs off the ground not only requires abdominal strength, but also strength in your quadriceps. So to train my quads, I’ve been doing forward leg raises while standing (or seated) and trying to keep my torso upright. I try to hold each leg up for at least 5 breaths or longer if I can.

To do these leg raises, you must:

1. Stand upright in mountain pose.
2. Raise your left leg straight up in front of you until it makes a 45-90 degree angle with the ground.
3. Tuck your tailbone under by contracting the lower abs.
4. Contract your left abs like you are doing a side crunch.
5. Hold the movement for 5-10 breaths.
6. Repeat the same sequence on the other side.

Jan 18, 2012: Bent-leg variation
Because I’m still very stiff in my hamstrings, so have difficulty straightening my legs, I decided to try a different variation of this pose that would allow me to work on the balance required to hold the pose.

In this variation, you bend the leg that is in front of you slightly and enough, so that you can lift your entire body off the ground.

Once lifted, try to find and maintain balance, and after a while try to straighten the leg that is in front of you.

By doing this, I found out that I have enough strength to lift my body off the ground, and that my balance is pretty good. Now I just have to work on getting my leg to be straight and then lifting off the ground with a straight leg.