Notes
In this pose, the scapulae are elevated, adducted, and slightly upwardly rotated; without
the levering action of the arms, this calls on the muscles that move the scapulae on the
rib cage to work strongly. It might feel like contradictory actions to perform adduction,
elevation, and upward rotation simultaneously. It is indeed possible and in fact necessary
in this pose in order to protect the neck. If the scapulae are not maintained in adduction,
the weight of the body falls into the spine; if the scapulae do not upwardly rotate, the arms
are challenged in being alongside the body. The scapulae are positioned in neutral rotation
as they extend to the knees, but the action that gets them there is upward rotation as they
come from the downward rotation of niralamba sarvangasana.
The upper fibers of the psoas major and abdominal muscles are very strongly engaged
here to maintain the spinal flexion in the thoracic spine. In addition, more lumbar flexion
occurs to bring the legs farther overhead and counterbalance the pull of gravity. Resisting
this tendency toward lumbar flexion makes the spinal flexors work much harder eccentri-
cally against the body weight’s tendency to roll down to the floor.
In this balancing act between spinal flexors and extensors, imbalances that are usually
imperceptible show up because the arms aren’t available to leverage symmetry. When these
torques appear, they make this pose that much more challenging to balance.
Breathing
In niralamba sarvangasana, the intense action in the torso’s flexor and extensor groups
creates quite a challenge to the shape change of breathing. Because this is a challenging bal-
ance pose that requires a lot of stabilizing action in the abdominal and thoracic musculature,
any attempt at deep breathing will destabilize the pose even as the full-body activation of
these major muscle groups creates a demand for significant oxygenation.
Efficiency—finding the minimum amount of effort necessary to maintain the position—
allows the limited breath movements to supply just enough energy to sustain the pose.