3 Things You Need for a Stronger Chaturanga

If you find Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana) to be the most challenging part of your yoga practice, you’re not alone. Many people strain their way through it with grim determination. But if your hips sink toward the mat or your elbows splay out to the sides, Chaturanga not only feels awkward, it invites injury to the lower back, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Also known as Low Plank Pose, this challenging posture requires meticulous alignment and robust muscular engagement to remain safe. But how can you develop the strength to come into Chaturanga without compromising your body in the process?

How to Use Props in Chaturanga Dandasana

Supporting your body with props in Chaturanga Dandasana allows you to get a sense of what the pose is supposed to feel like even if you haven’t quite developed the upper body strength to hold yourself in position. It also allows you to focus on alignment and muscular engagement so you can establish a template of what the pose should feel like after the support is removed. Think of props as training wheels for your Chaturanga Dandasana.

When practiced consistently, the following three variations of Chaturanga will lead to a safer and more skillful pose.

Before practicing the below sequence, take a few preparatory poses. Stand in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) or sit in Hero Pose (Virasana). Then warm up your shoulders with Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana) and Eagle Pose (Garudasana). To prep your abdominals and hip flexors, take Boat Pose (Paripurna Navasana) 3 or 4 times. Finally, engage your back with 2 or 3 rounds of Locust Pose (Salabhasana).

1. Chaturanga Dandasana With a Bolster

In this variation, the bolster does the heavy lifting so you can align your hands, arms, and shoulders as you engage your shoulder blades. By supporting the weight of your body, the prop allows your focus to shift to the alignment of your upper body and the muscular actions of the posture.

How to: 

1. Place a bolster lengthwise along the center of your mat. Lie prone on the bolster so the top is an inch or two beneath your collarbones. The bolster should comfortably support the majority of your weight.
2. Place your hands alongside your ribs. (You’ll know your hands are in the right place when your forearms are vertical.) Raise the front of your shoulders so your upper arms are parallel to the floor and your elbows are bent at a right angle. Look slightly forward to support the lift of your shoulders and chest.
3. Press the balls of your feet into the mat and straighten your legs.
4. Press your hands firmly into the mat without lifting off the bolster, and feel the engagement at the front of your shoulders and chest and the back of your arms. Press your hands into the mat to create a pulling action, as if you were trying to pull the mat toward your heels. Squeeze your upper arms toward your ribs.
5. Finally, firm your quadriceps by trying to draw your knees toward your hips and engage your abdominals. Take 5 to 10 cycles of breath before bringing your knees to the mat and coming off the bolster .

2. Chaturanga Dandasana With a Strap

Arms splaying out to the sides and lowering yourself too close to the ground are some of the most common issues in Chaturanga Dandasana. The strap promotes proper alignment in your upper body and indicates how far to lower yourself from Plank.

How to:

1. Make a loop with the strap approximately shoulder-width and wrap it around your upper arms just above your elbows. Shift your body into Plank with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders. Press your fingers and balls of your feet into the mat and engage your thigh and abdominal muscles.
2. Shift from the balls of your feet to the tips of your toes. Bend your elbows and lower yourself until the strap touches your bottom ribs. As you do so, continue to shift your upper body forward. Imagine the movement of the body to be like an airplane landing instead of an elevator descending. The strap will help you stop when your elbows are at a right angle.
3. Press firmly into the floor with your hands and create a pulling action with your hands as if you’re trying to draw your body forward. This should pull your shoulder blades away from your ears slightly. Balance this movement by squeezing your upper arms toward your side ribs.
4. Keep your thighs firm and your abdominals engaged. Chaturanga Dandasana is not a comfortable pose in which to breathe, nor is it easy to sustain, but do your best to remain in the pose for 3-5 slow breath cycles. Then release and come into Child’s Pose (Balasana).

3. Chaturanga Dandasana With a Chair

In this variation, the chair supports some of your body weight, allowing you to fine-tune your technique. Your body is at a 45-degree angle to the floor instead of parallel to it, which gives you greater leverage to move into the pose and sustain it.

How to:

1. Place the seat of a sturdy chair against a wall. Face the back of the chair and hold onto it with your hands shoulder-width apart. Step back until you are leaning against the chair with your arms straight. At this point, your body will create a 45-degree angle and your arms will be perpendicular to your ribs. Lengthen your tailbone toward your heels, engage the front of your thighs, and draw your navel toward your spine.
2. Move into Chaturanga Dandasana by shifting further forward onto the balls of your feet (don’t try to go all the way to your tiptoes). Hug your elbows toward your side ribs and slowly bend them to draw yourself closer toward the chair. Keep your chest forward so your elbows stay aligned with your wrists. Stop when your elbows are bent at a right angle and your upper arms are parallel with your torso. As you did in the previous versions, look slightly forward, lift the fronts of your shoulders, and draw your shoulder blades away from your ears.
3. To release the pose, slowly straighten your arms and return to Plank Pose against the Chair. Build up to repeating the transition from Plank to Chaturanga Dandasana and back to Plank several times.

This article has been updated. Originally published November 21, 2022.