How to Do a High Plank to Low Plank (Chaturanga Dandasana)

Learn high plank to low plank from certified yoga instructor Chelsey Korus in this Howcast movie.

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The next thing we’re going to work is Chaturanga Dandasana. Or, you might hear it in your classes, high plank to low plank. And there’s a lot of different variations. And you should work. For me personally, my journey with this pose has been, I came in and I had zero tricep awareness of my assets. So my teacher told me to drop down to my knees. And I did that for about two years, until I indeed felt where it was. So I don’t know what your journey is, but don’t be afraid to take modifications with this pose. It’s better to train it right and get it right on the assets than to go back later and redo it.

So here you’re going to come with that high plank pose. Like a top of a shove up position. Once you’ve found that and the belly is nice and in. So I picture like there’s something hot on the mat that I don’t want belly to touch. And as I lower it, I’m attempting to fight back the belly away from that place. So very first thing I’ll begin with the modification. You know, lean the heart forward so your shoulders are over your fingers. And you drop down to your knees.

From here, heart resumes to reach forward as the elbows arch. The belly stays sucking in. So again, that hot thing you don’t want to touch. So as you lower down elbows back, shoulders forward, belly in, belly in, belly in. And then as straight spine as you can. Keep that belly in. You’ll lower yourself all the way down to the floor. Release the toes. Okay. So that’s the very first modification.

2nd is the utter expression of the pose. You’re going to come up onto a high plank. Use those fingertips. Shoulders forward, bellies in. And then you lower down. Elbows straight back, shoulders forward. Don’t permit the shoulders to pitch. Right? So I want to create more and more space. I’m going to put some blacks here, just for my mind to know what point to reach away from. So I’ll put my fingertips right behind high plank pose. Lower down, Chaturanga. I’m attempting to keep my shoulders lifted away from that place. Belly stays in. And then I come here.

Notice one more time. So you come to high plank. Notice one more time how low you got to go. So a lot of us come here, and we lower all the way down to here. That’s too low. You want to have the elbows and the ribcage about the same. And the hips and the shoulders the same line.

So that is your Chaturanga Dandasana. Don’t be afraid to use modifications.

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