parsva kakasana
Parsva: side, Kaka: crow, Asana: pose
There are many aspects to establishing ‘lift off’ in this posture. The ability to take the body into a strong twist, flexion at the hip - getting the knees snug to the body, squeezing the elbows in requiring shoulder flexibility, and with all hand /arm balances, good extension at the wrists and strength in the forearms. I look at it like creating a shelf on the back of both arms, one shelf for the hip and one for the knee. Once you have the contact points, then it becomes a balance, like the regular crow, it can feel light when everything is in the right place. The pose is often shown with connection only on one arm, the front arm (shown in the last pictures). I find this more challenging and more lopsided. There are lots of variations including straightening the legs out to one side.
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