Yoga Asana: Dolphin Pose or Ardha Pincha Mayurasana

Each posture in the physical yoga practice has a Sanskrit name ending in asana. Asana means seat or posture. Today we will explore dolphin pose. Dolphi is known as Ardba Pincha Mayurasana in Sanskrit. We see: arch which means: half, pincha which means: feathers, mayura which means: peacock and of course, asana which means seat or posture. How curious that a beautiful land bird with wings and feathers became a sea animal with fins and a tail! The origins of the posture is unknown and I could find almost nothing on its history.

This brings us to the WHY behind Ardha Pinch Mayurasana. Yoga has been conveniently packaged and sold as high end stretching that requires designer tights, a hundred dollar rubber rectangle, and membership to the most exclusive club in town. What this package forgot to include was the users manual of which states: “Yoga Citta Vritti Nirodha,” translated as yoga is the stilling of the mind stuff. The asana or what has been dumbed down to “stretching” is the doorway to the mind “stuff.” Your mind stuff and the examination and cultivation of it, equals the quality of your life. Yoga might generically look like making shapes with your body, but the real goal is the conscious shaping of your mind.

The physical WHY behind Ardha Pincha Mayurasana is a combination of strength and stretch. The stretch is mostly felt in the shoulders and the entire back body including the hamstrings, calves, achilles, arches of the feet, and spine. The strength of the posture is in the engagement the legs, arms, shoulders, core body, hands, and wrists. This posture is an inversion as the heart is above the head and therefore improves circulation and blood flow to the brain.

Ardha Pincha Mayrasana can have symbolic, metaphoric, and meaningful significance to our own personal why’s. You could consider the qualities of a peacock or a dolphin and derive meaning that tends to your own personal needs. Because this posture is most widely referred to as dolphin pose, I will offer an interpretation considering the qualities of a dolphin. Dolphins have so many qualities that are conducive to enhancing the quality of life like playfulness, intelligence, collaboration, communication, and self awareness. When I think about the trajectory of most people I know or have witnessed, it seems that the importance of fun and play takes a back seat to the weight of making money, keeping a home, raising a family, and the tasks of simply maintaining our needs as a human OR fun turned into a concoction of drinking, drugging, gambling, and screen time. What about the fun of singing, dancing, play fighting, running, jumping, star gazing, telling campfire tales, joking, funny face making, skipping, board game playing, and such? It seems we have become so elaborate in our toys that we forgot we are supposed to have FUN playing with them. It seems that we have become so irritated with our own selves that we must become someone else with drugs and alcohol to get away from ourselves to even consider having fun. Dolphin is our reminder that our environment is our playground and that we and our fellow humans are our own Source of fun and play. Could you dance and sing AND wash the dishes? Could you skip down the street to go grocery shopping? Could you play a board game instead of scroll social media? Could you make a campfire and tell stories instead of going to the bar? Could you throw a frisbee in the back yard instead of playing x-box? How could you be a dolphin in your day today?

How to do Ardha Pincha Mayurasana:

Start on all fours, then come down onto your forearms with the forearms slightly more narrow than your shoulders width. Spread your fingers, grip through your finger pads, and push down into your forearms. From there lift the hips up then straighten the legs and walk your feet in as much as you can. Press the heels back and down, being sure the heels are hidden behind the toes (the heels will most likely not touch the ground). Engage your quads and spiral the inner thighs downward. Allow the head to relax and gaze towards your naval or your feet.

Modifications:

Use a block on its low, wide, setting as a guide for elbow, forearm, and hand placement. Make an L shape with your forefinger and thumb around the outer corners of the block.
Bend the knees or lengthen the stance any amount if the posture feels overwhelming to the backs of the legs.
Move your elbows slightly more wide if the posture feels too much on your shoulders. You can also try interlacing the fingers. The angle of the forearms moving inward often helps to relieve tension in the shoulders.

Variations: