Does Your Yoga Practice Make Your Shoulders Cry?

A discussion on Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Pointed Staff Pose and how to support your shoulders while you practice yoga

Jul 13, 2024

Many people who used to practice yoga often blame their shoulders for giving it up. Yogis who practice Vinyasa or Ashtanga Yoga styles flow through many poses that can be taxing on the shoulders. One in particular is Chaturanga Dandasana, or Four Pointed Staff pose.

Over the decades I have made it my mission to ensure all of my students practice this pose properly, because when done well, it’s an incredibly powerful pose. It builds strength in the core, legs, arms, shoulders and back, and is a foundational pose for other types of poses, like inversions.

Unfortunately, many teachers call out this pose in class without going into detail about the mechanics. As is human nature, when you don’t know what you are doing, you make it up. You might try to match the pose that you see without fully understanding how it works.

This can lead to “variations” that cause more harm than good. Most shoulder injuries in yoga are due to practicing this particular pose incorrectly, putting unnecessary strain on the rotator cuff and shoulder joint.

I hope this post will leave you with a better understanding of this pose and how to practice it with the body that you have. In general when practicing yoga, or doing any physical activity, do so with mindfulness, attention, and intention. Momentum is not your friend here. Go slowly and listen to your body. If you find yourself struggling or straining, stop, back off, and do less.

Chaturanga Dandasana: What is it?

In both Vinyasa and Ashtanga practices, you move through Chaturanga Dandasana multiple times per yoga session as part of the Vinyasa Flow: Plank, Chaturanga, Upward Dog, and Downward Dog. See the video below.

“Chaturanga Dandasana" does not translate to "collapse to the floor before Upward Dog," although I have seen this “variation” many times over the years. The actual translation is “Four-Pointed Staff pose.” This pose is a version of Plank pose (Phalakasana) that is closer to the floor, which is why it is often called “Low Push Up.”

It requires both upper and lower body strength, but there are many ways to modify this pose and make it accessible to anyone. If you can’t get down on the floor, you can do it against a wall or with your hands on the seat of a chair. The wall and chair allow you to build strength while modifying how much weight you put into your hands.

Chaturanga Dandasana against the wall and with a chair

Alignment

Ideally, the whole body in a straight line from your head to your feet; it’s the same alignment you would have if you were standing vertically. The only difference is you are facing the floor instead of standing on it.

At your lowest point, your neck, torso, legs, and upper arms are all parallel to the floor, with your elbows bent to 90 degrees (or more). Your elbows are directly over your wrists, palms flat on the floor, with your shoulder joint directly in front of your elbow joint.

Moving into the pose

In a typical flow sequence, Chaturanga comes after Plank pose. In Plank, the shoulders are stacked over the wrists, the balls of your feet are on the floor, and your body makes a straight live from your head to your heels.

This is another pose that requires full-body engagement:

Your abdominals are pulled in while maintaining the natural lumbar curve
Your quads, inner thighs, and glutes all engage
Press your palms into the floor without rounding your upper back
Your shoulder blades slide toward your waist, while keeping the chest is open
Your head is in line with your spine. Focus your eyes on the floor about 6" or so in front of your fingertips.

From here, the transition to Chaturanga involves moving both forward and toward the floor, but your shoulder blades move backward. This is the key to staying out of your shoulder joints. When you can employ the Lats (Latissimus Dorsi) and Lower Trapezius muscles instead of the rotator cuff, you will experience a stable and less painful pose.

Bigger muscles are typically stronger muscles. When you can support yourself using bigger muscles (like the Lats) there is less struggle and strain. When you force small muscles to do the job of bigger muscles (especially in repetition), they can’t handle the exertion, and over time it can lead to injury.

When you shrug your shoulders, that’s one way you get into trouble in this pose (more common mistakes below). Shrugging uses the Upper Trapezius, which is typically a weaker muscle. Relying on the Upper Traps instead of the Lower Traps and Lats puts your rotator cuff muscles at risk. Pressing the scapulae/ shoulder blades down your back gives you access to the bigger muscles and prevents injury caused by shoulder collapse.

Modifications

The beauty of practicing yoga is that there is no one-size-fits-all way to practice. Depending on your body and it’s needs, there is always a way to practice that builds strength, and leaves you feeling better than when you got on your mat.

One common modification for Chaturanga is to keep your knees on the floor. This changes the position of the “hinge” so there is less body weight to move and control.

The overall movement of the pose is the same, forward and downward, with the shoulder blades moving toward your waist. Keep your thighs off the floor, while engaging your core, quads, adductors, and glutes. Hinge at the knees and lower your body in one piece.

You can also decide how low you go. Maybe you bend the elbows only half an inch, while engaging the Lats and Lower Traps, to start building the strength you need to support yourself. At your lowest point, your shoulder joint is level with your elbow joint, but you don’t have to go that low. It’s more important to use the correct muscles than it is to look like the photo below.

Common mistakes:

Lack of core or leg engagement: this pose is much harder when don’t use your core or legs and you sag toward the floor. Engaging the core, quads, glutes, and adductors (inner thighs) actually makes this pose easier. Play with putting a yoga block or rolled towel between your thighs to help you feel that engagement.
Shoulders over wrists: although you start in this alignment, at your lowest point, your shoulder joint should be forward of the wrist joint. Eventually your shoulders are level with the elbows, or you may never go that low. If your shoulders stay over your wrists when you lower down, you will either need to shrug your shoulders or lift your hips up to compensate. Moving your chest forward allows you keep the body straight.
Shoulders shrugging: when you shrug, you cause more strain in the upper trapezius (as humans we already tend to hold a lot of tension there) and you risk collapsing into the shoulder joint, causing rotator cuff injury.
Dropping hips and head: I see this a lot. It feels like you are moving toward the floor, but instead you lose the integrity of the pose. Keep your head and hips in a straight line and simply "hinge" at the balls of the feet or knees.
Looking at feet: connected to dropping the head, if you are looking at your feet, your body is not straight. Your gaze (drishti) should be directly below your eyes. I often cue having the gaze slightly forward to prevent the drop of the head. Placing a block 6-10” in front of your fingertips can give you something to aim for.
Collapsing the shoulders: this often causes the hips to go up as well. You are letting gravity win and are going to injure yourself. Chaturanga is a strengthening pose and should be done mindfully; there is no "collapse" in mindfulness. You want to lower toward the floor with control and intention.

What is your experience with this pose? Do you love it? Do you loathe it? Do you skip it all together? If you already have shoulder issues, have you played with practicing against a wall or using a chair? I’d love to hear your thoughts or any questions you may have on practicing this pose.