शलभासन
Shalabhasana — Locust Pose
śalabha = locust — legs lifted like the resting insect's
Face down, legs floating up: the powerhouse of the whole back body.
In the simplest words
Lie on your tummy, arms by your sides, and lift both legs up a little, like a grasshopper resting with its legs in the air. Even a small lift is a big win: your back is doing secret push-ups.
What it is
Cobra lifts the front of the spine; shalabhasana trains its engine room. Lying face down, arms alongside, the legs lift by back-body strength alone, with no hands to help and nothing to push from. The lift is never high, and that is the point: two inches earned by the buttocks, hamstrings and deep spinal muscles do more for a desk-weakened back than any dramatic shape. The Gheranda Samhita lists it among its thirty-two asanas (ch. II), and modern back-care exercise teaches the same lift.
Before you practise: health first
Skip in pregnancy, with hernia, ulcer or serious heart trouble; sharp lower-back pain means one-leg lifts or rest. The lift stays small; height is not the goal.
Getting into it
Lie face down, chin on the floor, arms alongside, palms down (or fists under the hips).
Lengthen both legs back, press the pelvis down.
Inhale and lift both legs: small, straight, together. The lift comes from the buttocks and back.
Keep chin and shoulders quiet on the floor; breathe steadily in the hold.
Exhale down; rest a breath; one leg at a time is the easier variant.
The breath
Inhale to rise, even breath to stay, exhale to land. Never strain the throat.
What it is kept for
Strengthening the whole back line, the straightforward cure for chair-softened backs; steadying the pelvis for deeper backbends.