The butterfly pose is a pretty well-recognized yoga pose, even if you are a complete novice you will have certainly seen pictures of yoga do-ers in this pose.
Originally called the badhakonasana (pronounced bah-dah-cone-ahs-ana) is a pretty correct name for this pose, just in terms of the way that this pose is done.
Literally meaning bound angle pose, this yoga position is where your feet are tucked close to your groin and they are clasped tightly with your hands.
You will kind of look like you are tied up in a particular angle. But, this pose is more commonly known as the butterfly pose because of the movement of the legs and this kind of give the appearance of a butterfly flapping its wings.
So, read to find out exactly how to include this pose into your daily yoga routine along with the benefits of this pose.
How To Do The Butterfly Pose
This pose can be practiced as a resting posture in your favorite yoga routine, or you can start your yoga session by using the butterfly pose as a grounding pose. Whatever way you use this pose, it can be really versatile and you can use this pose in whatever way works best for your yoga routine.
- First of all, you need to sit with your spine erect and with your legs spread out nice and straight – then you can transition to bending your knees and bringing your feet towards your pelvis. The soles of your feet should really touch each other.
- Time to grab your feet – do this tightly with your hands, and put your hands underneath your feet just for that extra support. Ensure that you try to bring your heels as close to your groin as possible.
- Take that deep breath in – then you can breathe out. As you breathe out you can press your thighs and your knees downwards towards the floor, and try to focus on pressing them downward.
- Time to create that butterfly effect – to do this you can flap your legs upwards and downwards so that they mimic the wings of a butterfly. You need to start doing this slowly and then you can gradually increase the speed at which you are doing this. As you do this you should continue to breathe normally.
- Slow down and come to a stop – as you come to do this you can take a deep breath in and just as you exhale you should bend forward. As you do this you should keep your chin up and your spine erect.
- Press your elbows onto your thighs – you can either do this on your thighs or on your knees, whichever is the most comfortable for you.
This will enable you to push your knees and your thighs closer to the ground. Feel this stretch in your inner thigh area and take some long and deep breaths, which will help you to relax your muscles even more. - Take a deep breath in – as you do this you should be able to bring your torso up. As you exhale you should gently release your posture so that you can then straighten out your legs in front of you and then relax.
This is a great yoga pose that can be adjusted to suit your body. For instance, if you are suffering from a knee injury, or even if you are suffering from a groin injury then you should keep a blanket under your outer thigh area.
This will give you that extra support, so do not do this pose without a blanket if you have injuries in the knee or groin area. Additionally, if you have problems with your lower back area then you should do this posture with your spine completely erect you need to make sure that you do not round your spine by bending forwards.
The Benefits Of The Butterfly Pose
The butterfly pose is a really great pose that can have great benefits for your groins. This is all to do with the alignment of your legs, as this actually places some good stress on your groins. This is ultimately really healthy for your muscles, for your joints and also for your fascia.
If you decide to hold this pose for an extended amount of time along with some controlled breathing, then you can really get some great health benefits from this.
Strong connective tissues are one of the benefits of this along with this being a great resting posture. Just for that extra care and support you can use a pillow just to ease out any tightness in the groin area.
This yoga pose can also really help to relieve headaches, as most headaches tend to be induced by stress. This yoga pose helps to release tension of the neck and of the head, and by resting your forehead on the ground you can really get a feeling of complete relaxation.
By paying attention to breathing too, this pose is a really great way to release anxiety and to also feel at peace and just generally a lot calmer.
The butterfly pose can also really help your shoulders and your lower back. Let’s start from the top and work our way down. Shoulders retain tension and stress and also a lot of hefty emotional baggage!
So, by practicing the butterfly pose then you can step closer towards releasing any built up tension in your shoulders. You could try this pose at the end of a long, tiring day just to help you fully unwind.
This is the perfect pose for you if you struggle with lower back problems this yoga pose stretches out the lower back without having any negative impact on the hamstrings. If you have tight hamstrings then you can regularly perform this pose without being stressed about any negative repercussions.
This is all to do with the position of your heels, by positioning your heels close to your groin you can get less hamstring stretch but you will have a pretty great lengthening of the lower back.
Additional
This yoga pose is perfect for moms-to-be. This is an awesome prenatal yoga stretch because it helps to reinforce those pelvic floor muscles, and it improves blood circulation, and it also enhances the release of happy hormones which can help in a safe, healthy and smooth delivery.
Alternatively, this yoga pose can help to improve the menstrual cycle because it detoxifies the body, and helps to restore ovaries to their best health.
This also is very telling of how this yoga pose can help your reproductive organs stay healthy because the poses excites the functioning of your ovaries.
This yoga pose increases blood circulation to your reproductive system so reduces the risk of infertility and also helps you to improve your overall reproductive system.
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