This shape of spine is key throughout the sequence
Here I give you some key instructions that can support a beautiful transition from kneeling plank to down dog to bakasana.
Watch the video first. You can see the a side view and the front view in the same video. I have sped this video up so this whole sequence actually took 2 minutes in real life. I am really trying to emphasis some good slow mindful movement.
The instructions below should help firm the tummy and armpits while giving a sense of length in the spine (neither stretching nor tightening).
The key instructions here are to push front of groins to armpits and armpits to front of groins. Then, if you can add something else, press your hands forward and your knees back. You should start with feeling relaxed in your tummy. You should be able to breathe naturally into your belly throughout although it will become firm through the instructions (but not by sucking it in).
Kneeling plank
In this kneeling plank make sure knees are behind hips, shoulders over wrists.
Sitting bones move down towards backs of knees, front of pelvis lifts to the lower back to lengthen the lower back.
Lift lower ribs towards the back of chest to lengthen around the middle and upper back.
Press front of groins towards the armpits and armpits towards the front of groins without moving the body forward. This should bring a postural firmness to your tummy.
If you can manage, press hands forward and knees back while you maintain groins and armpits moving towards one another.
Half child pose Quite honestly I did not know what to call this position. It is halfway between kneeling plank and balasna (child's pose).
I move very slowly back into this position. I am not trying to get my bottom onto my heels. I am thinking about maintaining the key actions I established in the previous position. As I move back my challenge is to keep feeling as though I am moving my groins forwards.
See the spine stays the same shape.
Partial lift Here I focus on keeping the groin-armpit connection then go back again to pressing hands forward but toes and heels backwards. This combined effort causes my knees to become light. They start to lift of their own accord.
Downward dog
I keep with those four actions:
armpits to groins
groins to armpits
hands pressing forward
feet pressing backward
Walk forward
Maintaining those actions (you might need to let up on pushing feet back because they start to be less on the ground), bend your knees and walk your feet forward. I tip-toe forwards trying to stay as light on my feet as possible.
Bakasana
If I keep pressing armpits to groins and vice versa, press hands forwards, lift knees up to chest, rest them lightly on the back of my arms, press elbows back and towards one another and just keep breathing and leaning forward then you might find yourself floating. Maybe you stay on tip toes. Wherever you are be happy wherever that is. Keep working on being where you are and staying for a little bit longer until you feel comfortable moving to the next stage.
Remember, nothing should hurt. If you have not developed the correct strength and actions around the wrists then you need to work on clawing with your fingertips and pressing the wrists into one another and just have less weight on the wrists until you are ready to shift more weight there.
Have fun.
Remember, these videos are primarily intended for my own students so I can give adjustments and comments and personal feedback. It is always best to go to an actual teacher rather than learn off the internet.
Oh, and don't forget about my retreat in Sri Lanka this April 2016. Come along if you can!
A handstand is an arm balance. The foundation of the arm balances I do is the high plank.
If I was super strong I could transition from my high plank to bakasana then to a handstand. But I am a bit weak.
Not all high planks are equal. Some will not teach you the requisite postural firmness you need for better arm balances.
In this post I show a video where I give some of the fundamentals of the high plank that I do that changed my practice phenomenally and helped me to develop into this handstand.
Watch the video first to see the movement in action. Then follow the step by step instructions. I have written about bakasana before so you can also refer to that post (bakasana on a block).
Do not do anything that hurts. It is better to practice with a teacher.
Get Set
Come onto your hands and knees. You need to make sure you are using your hands properly so you don't feel sinking into your wrists. This means pressing with your fingertips, feeling as though you are trying to grip at the floor or make fists. Imagine there are little holes in the ground like a tenpin bowling ball that you are trying to press your fingertips into to lift up the ground.
Knees are behind hips. Shoulders are over wrists.
Lift ribs into upper back. Can you see how rounded and lifted my upper back is? This feeling of being broad across the upper back is important. I feel as though I am pushing the arms downwards into the floor. My shoulder blades come right around the sides of my chest.
My sitting bones go down towards the back of my knees and top of pelvis moves towards the sky to lengthen my lower back. My lower back is not arched.
The sense is the entire back of my body is lengthened. This shape is important. You will need to maintain it.
The actions in my arms are important and maintained.
I push my armpits in the direction they are facing. Here that sort of means down and back.
I push my hands down and forward--away from my knees.
I feel as though I am pulling my knees towards my hands.
I feel as though I am pushing my hips forwards towards my hands but they do not go anywhere.
You cannot really see these actions. That is what makes the practice of this posture difficult. My kneeling plank is already cultivating a postural firmness for me so that my tummy is getting firm through the posture but in a way where I can still feel that when I breathe the tummy can move.
In fact, if you look at my waist area you can see it is like I have little gills there--you can see movement when I am breathing. I am breathing a lot here! It is hard. If I could I might try to breathe less.
Lift Up
Maintaining all previous actions, I put the tips of my toes on the ground and lift my knees.
I am careful not to sag my chest or lower back.
Performed well, you should feel very firm in the tummy area without needing to actually try to firm it. It should come naturally because of the posture.
See how I am trying to be right on the tops of my toes. Not the balls of the feet. That is important.
Tip toe forward
From there I try and maintain the same actions but I just tip toe forward--on the very tops of my toes.
A common challenge as you tip toe forward is to keep the tummy firm. It helps if you keep your knees bent and stay on the tops of your toes.
I keep all the same actions from before, lifting chest up into upper back, sitting bones down and top of pelvis back to lengthen lower back, feeling as though I am moving my hips forward.
Stay or bakasana
You can just try and stay there, on the very tops of your toes, lifting your chest, firming your tummy. It is really hard!!
Or you can initiate bakasana by dropping your butt a little, lifting your knees up higher as though into your chest, lightly resting them on our upper arms.
You can stay there or, if you feel light, you can lean forward until the toes feel light and then you can pull the heels into the bottom.
You can still see my little gills breathing. That is important. I am firm but calm.
Optional extras!
I am too chicken to do handstand on a bench like that. I have not yet got the strength.
But if you have built these foundations then a handstand should get easier.
I do the same thing but get onto my tip toes and start to take one leg up.
I give a little tap...
...and up I come...
Sthira sukham asanam. Firm but calm. Summary
I have written a few posts about bakasana and even kneeling plank and plank before.
That is because they are really important!
Get a good high plank. Then keep the actions and get a good bakasana.
These will help build the foundations.
There are other poses that you can do from bakasana so that you do not need to kick up into handstand but instead float from bakasana straight up. I am still working on that one! In the meantime, I enjoy the inversion with free spine.
This is the type of step by step approach to movement and posture I use in classes, workshops, and retreats. You are welcome to join me any time!
In this post I share a video of coming into bakasana on a small block I found by the lake. Below are some important instructions.
Above, I came up onto my tip toes and bent my knees slightly. This helped make the backs of my knees firm.
I suppose you might not do this if you did not have confidence that you could move up onto your toes! We practice this type of action a lot in my classes to develop stability around the ankles and knees.
I had my sitting bones down, top of pelvis back to lengthen lower back.
I was pushing my hips forward as though to move them over my toes and initiated spinal forward flexion to help make my tummy firm.
I was beginning to push my armpits down and forward to bring my shoulder blades around my upper back.
Next, as I lower my hands I try not to send my bottom back. I keep my knees bent to encourage more spinal forward flexion and maintain my firm tummy.
Then, you can see my spine has essentially not changed shape. I am still firm in my tummy doing spinal forward flexion.
I am pushing my hands down into the floor, shoulder blades wrapping around my upper back. You can see that I was doing this from the beginning so really that has not changed either. I do feel as though I am sending my elbows backwards but my fingers/hands down and forwards. This helps me be firm and strong around the shoulder joint.
Actually not much has really changed. I am trying to maintain the actions I initiated in the beginning and bring them towards the ground.
The main thing I have done here is to actively lift my knees up onto my arms. I am not resting them there. I am trying to keep them light and lifting. I do press my upper arms back towards my knees.
Look at my toes. I am trying to lift up onto the tops of my toes here rather than be on the balls of my feet. The less weight I have on my toes the better--for the full posture that it!
If you do this well you will know how hard this is.
If you can practice this without sinking into your shoulders and without sinking into your feet or being heavy on your knees then you will be doing excellent work for the full posture. Maintain the push through the arms and the firmness in your tummy.
What changes here is that my shoulders come far in front of my wrists.
One of the reasons I did this posture on a block was to show how far my shoulders are coming forward. If you compare the previous picture to this one you can see my head is now in front of the block and my shoulders are just over the edge.
At this point I start to feel lift.
The video below shows lift off! Instead of leaping into the posture, I balance. I actively lift my heels to my bottom.
I have written previously about using the wrists but you can see here I have wrapped my finger tips around the block. I am pressing into them.
This is how we deconstruct posture to help you be strong, safe, and active in postures. Hope to see you in classes and workshops in Canberra and Colombo, or at our Bali retreat!
Here I demonstrate basics of moving into bakasana from standing. In upcoming workshops I will be going through the key actions. Keep the actions from preceding movements as you move to the next. I recommend you can comfortably lean onto your straight arms and dance on your tip toes before trying to take the legs off. Practice safely and mindfully, and remember it is always better to find a teacher of your own. Do not do anything that causes strain or stress.
In this video I am trying to transmit teachings I have learned from Simon Borg Olivier (www.yogasynergy.com) and apply them in arm balance poses that we practice regularly in class, the simplest of which is bakasana. I advise you to attend Simon's classes where you can.
The basic idea is to generate some thrust or power through the abdomen in a way that you can feel relaxed and calm but which will generate the lift you need for arm balances. Please re-read earlier posts on how to use your hands and armpits as this is assumed knowledge here.
There are many ways to come into bakasana and my intention here is to find a way that allows you to breathe into your belly while it is firm. I do not mean to infer that other ways are incorrect. I like practicing this way because, as you will see in the video, I can smile and talk and have a good time in a strong pose because I am at ease.
The great thing about this way of coming into bakasana is that there is only one basic instruction, albeit with a few caveats.
That basic instruction is to start with a relaxed belly and attempt to push the hips forward. This is not a pelvic tuck.
If you watch the video you will see I start in standing. I soften the knees. I let the sitting bones feel as though they are melting down the back of the legs (give length to the lower back, this is not a pelvic tuck). I relax my belly and breathe into it.
I poke my fingers deep into my squishy belly so you can see it is relaxed. As a little sidebar, I don't normally walk around with my t-shirt tied up in an 80s Flashdance knot, I just wanted to show you I am not sucking all of my belly in and that I am starting with a soft belly.
Then I simply move both hips forward.
If you perform this action yourself you should feel that your lower belly automatically becomes firm. You didn't have to tell it to do so, it just did. Isn't your body amazing? This is what I have learned as creating firmness through posture.
Note, you will be unlikely to feel this if you started with a tense belly. So, let it relax. Let it hang out.
When done correctly you should still be able to breathe into your belly, although it will not feel as though it is moving out so much anymore. This is because it has become firm through the posture.
Once you understand this in standing you can try to maintain this feeling as you fold forward. Only do this if it feels safe and comfortable for you to do.
You can see that I bend my knees to do a forward bend. This helps me keep the forward momentum of the hips and the postural firmness.
The thing is, as you fold forward the firmness is going to want to escape. It will almost definitely escape if you try to stick your bottom back and up. If you look at me, I am trying to move more forward and down so the hips can keep trying to move forward.
To come all the way to the floor my bottom will actually move back a little. But I keep trying to move it forward.
If, when you put your hands flat on the floor you feel you have lost the firmness then come back up again and try again.
When you can maintain this firmness, lean further into the hands--as much as is safe and comfortable for you.
Perhaps your feet will start to become light and you can dance your toes in so your knees come to rest on your upper arms. I am not gripping or squeezing them. I am resting them lightly. As lightly as possible. The power if coming from the firmness I have created in my torso and this helps me generate lift so I do not sink.
I apply these principles in other arm balances too. However, I use postural firmness like this in all of my postures. My whole yoga practice is using my core. Using it in a very special way; to quote Simon, to create stability with mobility and ease.
Please watch and re-watch is incredible video on the matter of whether it is correct to pull navel to spine here.
The Short Of It
Every now and then I get a question about headstand, which I don't normally teach in an open class.
Headstand can bring physiological benefits but it can be harmful. This is true of most things. But we are talking about your neck so it would be wise to be cautious.
Can you do a freestanding pincha mayurasana or hornstand in absolute freedom, feeling relaxed and at ease, talking to me all the while and telling me how much you love the pose? If the answer is no, I would wait until trying to do headstand.
Pincha mayurasana is much harder than headstand. Much, much harder. But if you can do that pose freely and safely and happily then it will be easy for you to come into a headstand.
I believe that being in all poses should be effortless. When your body is ready it (the pose) will become so.
From my perspective headstand is not a pose to test yourself on or challenge your fears on or become a better person because you overcame fears and difficulties in life. Quite frankly, you can go achieve conquer your fears and challenge yourself in a million other ways that does not have the weight of your body on your head!
Read more below to find out how you can build towards the headstand safely.
The Long Of It
I was inspired to write this post after seeing students in several different classes coming into headstands when I was not there or talking to me after class about how they want to do a headstand.
The thing is, I generally don't teach headstand in group classes. I am not suggesting it is wrong to do so but there is a lot that can go wrong if your headstand is not up to scratch and until I see students confident in other poses I prefer not to.
However, I recognise that a lot of people really want to do a headstand. Perhaps because it looks pretty cool and perhaps it is a neat little trick to have in one's repertoire. Perhaps you did it many years ago and so want to be able to do it again.
But before you come into any pose it can be good to ask yourself what your intention is in doing so and perhaps find out from your teacher what their intention is in teaching you.
You probably won't find many yoga teachers telling you it is because they want you to learn a trick and look cool.
For me, the purpose of a headstand is to get inverted (with all the associated physiological benefits). I have used headstand as a type of neck releasing posture for myself as well. I also use it as a way to come into other postures--like a backbend for instance.
I don't use headstand to strengthen anything, the neck especially, as it is my belief that you should develop strength in other postures first and use the headstand as a posture to hang out and be relaxed in.
Above all, I am mindful as I practice that while headstand has so many possible benefits, it it is also a risky pose.
The reason I tend not to teach it in classes (again I am not saying it is wrong) is because I know that out of a room of about 10-20 people that there is a risk that at least one or two are not really listening to my instructions fully, or perhaps they are listening but might not be ready to fully understand them in their bodies. And I know from my own experience as a student that sometimes even when the teacher says back off if you are not ready or if you are tired there are always some of us who still forge ahead!
Knowing all of this, I then calculate the consequences of not listening or understanding or doing more than you are ready for (tipping over when your body weight is on your head and neck for instance) and, for me, the chance that even one person might suffer is not worth the risk.
I am not suggesting you give up on ever hoping to do a headstand or don't work towards it. But I would like to offer some alternative suggestions for how you can build up to the the posture safely.
I am writing this primarily for the students who come to my classes and wonder why we are not working on headstand yet but it might be useful for you to think about even if you are not my student and ask yourself whether you are really ready for it!
I am not going to tell you how to do headstand here; that is best left to practicing in the presence of a trained teacher. What I want is for you to ask yourself whether the poses I suggest below are easy and free first. If the answer is truly yes--if you can talk and breathe and relax and be happy in all of the poses I offer below--then perhaps you are ready for headstand. If so, find a teacher and try! I am also happy to offer private classes to students to work on this skill as well.
Kneeling Plank to Downward Facing Dog
Check out my previous posts on kneeling plank. The feelings in the abdomen and torso that you generate in that posture surface in so many other postures--headstand included.
With the sitting bones moving down and forward the lower back is lengthened and there is firmness in the abdomen but you should still be able to breathe into it.
With the chest moving towards the ceiling the spine is lengthened more and the muscles around the shoulder blades and chest become active without tensing.
You can try the full plank with knees off the floor, but don't lose the actions of moving the sitting bones down and forward, ribcage to the ceiling.
You don't have to be squeezing and tensing and tightening here. Go for a feeling of firmness without tension. You still need to be free to move around. Be free in the joints, not locked. Feel as though you could move and ripple through the spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles if you wanted to (without actually moving).
See if you can make the transition to downward facing dog and maintain the same feelings in the abdomen and torso with freedom in the joints.
Bakasana
Build up more strength and stability through the shoulder girdle in bakasana while maintaining the same feeling in the abdomen and torso that you did in kneeling plank.
Bakasana also offers you the opportunity to be actively drawing your knees towards your chest while they are bent, which is a helpful action when you are working towards starting to take your legs up into the headstand.
I put bakasana in here for another reason too. Partly because it looks tricky and hard and interesting and perhaps you might be able to satisfy that niggling urge to do complicated tricky looking things by mastering this pose first! Remember, bakasana ultimately comes with straight arms and an ability to be relaxed and calm. Build up to holding this pose for 30 seconds to a minute and be happy.
Forearm Dog/Dolphin
The actions in the abdomen and torso you worked on in kneeling plank are also mimicked in the forearm dog posture, which you can see in my previous post on kneeling plank and in the video for this post.
This pose is hard. Really hard. Really, really hard.
It is even harder if you try and take one leg up without changing the actions in the torso. If you cannot do this pose and feel at ease and have a conversation with me then it might be best to put off your headstand for a while.
Remember that when done correctly the head is not on the floor in this pose. It does not come towards the floor either, which tends to happen for a lot of people. If anything, the head lifts further away from the floor.
Watch for the tendency to collapse the ribcage and sway the back here, essentially losing the actions that were cultivated in the kneeling plank.
The neck should be free and you can look towards your navel. If you cannot see it then you have probably sunk into your shoulders or collapsed the ribcage or are arching in your upper and lower back.
Now, while you are here, with one leg in the air and not collapsing, can you breathe and relax and talk freely? Can you feel relaxed in your shoulders and neck? If you cannot, be content with where you are and just keep working on it.
Work on it in a dedicated but kind way. This is not the time to be hard on yourself. Keep practicing, notice the small changes, and be happy with what you have done and are doing. Alternate between this and the pose below at the wall if you like.
I suggest you get a teacher to observe you practicing this pose as they will be able to help you free your shoulders and neck and let you know if you are collapsing in the spine.
Forearm Stand At Wall (pincha mayurasana or hornstand) & Free-Balancing
From the Forearm Dog you can back yourself up to the wall and see if you can maintain your actions and walk the legs up the wall to 90 degrees.
Again, remember your kneeling plank foundations. Resist doing more than you are ready for. If the spine starts collapsing (you will know because you can feel it starting to bend backwards) then go back to the forearm dog for a while.
Being at a 90 degree angle is pretty tough. You will find it seems to take less effort to be in the actual pose--either at the wall or free-balancing. But that is why it is a preparatory pose--you want your preparation to be so effective the final pose feels easy.
I suggest that you work your way to feeling confident in free-balancing in this position, first at the wall if you need but ultimately away from the wall before you try headstand. Then you know that if at any time your neck felt uncomfortable in a headstand you could push up into the hornstand to relieve any tension. You will probably need the guidance of a teacher here so don't be afraid to ask.
I also suggest that you be able to do this posture in way that feels relaxed. Well, I suggest you do all postures in a way that feels relaxed but really think about it in this one. This means you feel free to move around in the position and feel lightness rather than tension.
The thing is, if you are going to fall from a headstand--which you should be open to--then you want to be relaxed about it rather than falling from a rigid and stiffened body. I liken this a bit to what happens to really drunk people. Have you ever seen a really drunk person fall over? They are relaxed and like rubber and probably less likely to break something than the same person who falls with limbs and spine rigid. Not that I am suggesting we all turn to drink--you can relax without drinking.
This all takes time. Be patient. Be happy with where you are rather than unhappy thinking about where you want to be.
Throw In Some Side Bending & Twisting
You can also work on some side bends and twists. Both types of poses--when initiated from the navel up--will help move your spine. They will be especially helpful for people who feel like their elbows keep splaying out in the hornstand/pinch mayurasana.
Side bends will help lengthen the side of the body from the hip up through the armpit and into the arm. A lot of people are tight around there. Bending sideways can help free up the spine as well as the hips and shoulders. See my previous posts on 'A Way to Parsvakonasana' and 'A Way To Sidebending'.
Summary
Headstand is a wonderful pose to do but I'd suggest only doing it if you know you have no neck issues and you are confident you can at least to do horn stand or pincha mayurasana in absolute freedom and ease away from a wall. Then you can be assured that you have the requisite strength, mobility, and stability around the shoulders.
For me, headstand is not the type of position you want to see as a challenge. It should really be the natural consequence of being able to do much harder positions.
I wrote this post as a guide only and nothing beats the careful attention of an experienced teacher. Perhaps rather than practice any of these things on your own you can bring them up with your teacher when you next see them.
Down dog,
plank, crow and the forearm balance pincha mayurasana are all much the same
pose. The main difference is the angle of the arms relative to the
torso and angle of the hips. From my perspective, and current way of
practicing, the spine stays much the same--long and free.
In these
poses, the abdomen is also made firm. However, it is made firm by the
posture not because you are 'sucking in'. In this way of practicing there
is no need to actively pull navel to spine and you can breathe into the belly.
It won't move too much because it has been made firm by the posture (if
performed correctly) but the act of breathing into it will help give you power
and relaxation. Please link to Simon Borg Olivier's work on this matter
if you are in doubt. Also, watch Paddy McGrath as she practices (you can google them both). You will see how long and free her spine is as she moves between postures like this.
These issues--length
and freedom in the spine along with firmness in the abdomen created by the
posture--are important things to consider when 'looking' for a feeling in the
postures I describe below.
You will
see that kneeling plank, when performed as described, is the foundation for all
of the poses.
You will
see also that kneeling plank, when performed as described, is a fairly
difficult pose.
If you can
manage a great kneeling plank, as described, then you will create firmness in
your abdomen without needing to pull your belly in. The type of firmness that
is combined with ease and will enable you to gracefully come into more
challenging poses rather than rely on brute force.
You will
cultivate strength, stability and openness around the shoulders without needing
to lift weights.
You will
find length and freedom in your spine without over mobilizing weak parts.
Here is
how. Before you begin, revise my previous posts on using the hands as I will
only highlight the main points. Remember do not try anything that
might make you uncomfortable. Move mindfully and back off if there is any
discomfort. This is a way to come into these poses. I
like them because they make me feel firm but free, strong, but relaxed. There
are other ways. Find what works for you.
***note that the 'ambient' noise in the background is because I didn't figure out how to get rid of the noise of the person boxing in the gym where I filmed this!
Kneeling
Plank
Come onto
the hands and knees. Middle fingers point straight ahead, hands a little wider
than shoulders. Claw the fingers as though making a fist. Squash the
wrists towards one another, roll the underside of your arms towards your face.
Elbows straight but not rigidly so.
Knees slightly
behind hips.
Breathe
into the belly. Let it bloat out like a baby's belly. You will keep
breathing into the belly throughout.
Scoop the
sitting bones down and forward as though they are moving towards the
wrists. Lift the top of the pelvis towards the ceiling. The lower
back should lengthen and now the belly will firm without you needing to think
of actively tensing it.
Breathe
into the belly.
Child's
Pose (Balasana)
Beware the
tendency to just sag back and let the chest and lower back give way to gravity.
The chest still floats up, the sitting bones move towards the wrists.
Press the
armpits in the direction they face--now towards the floor.
Feel as
though you are pulling your knees towards your wrists.
Push the
ribs and chest up towards the ceiling. The upper back will
broaden. Push the arms down into the floor to enhance this.
Lightly
move the armpits in the direction they face--back towards the knees.
Relax the
face and neck.
Breathe
into the belly.
From kneeling plank you can move
to balasana by shifting the whole torso and pelvis backwards towards the heels.
You don't have to sit on the heels.
Downward
Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
Keep the
actions you have been cultivating in kneeling plank and then child's
pose. The only thing that changes now is that the heels start to
press backwards, as though to the floor. They might not reach the
floor. Who cares? It is not that important. The legs might not
straighten. Who cares? It is not important.
What is
important is that the foundation you have set--ribs floating up with lower back
long--is maintained.
To ensure
you can do this, move slowly. If you find yourself starting to sag
in your spine then pause. Back off until you are not
sagging. Stay there and be content with where you are. Let's use
this pose to free and lengthen the spine rather than worry about straightening
the legs.
Many
people, if not mindful, will push their ribs through towards the floor. Perhaps
because a lot of people are photographed doing it and because it feels more
stretchy. I am not saying it is bad to feel
stretchy. However, the action of pushing the chest through rather
than lifting it up will teach you nothing about the more advanced arm balance
poses.
Crow
(Bakasana)
Bakasana is
basically a variation of kneeling plank but with the knees on the
arms. The actions of pushing sitting bones to heels, pushing chest
upwards, pulling the knees into the chest, and pressing the armpits in the
direction in which they face.
The main
difference is that the knees actually move towards the chest rather then just
feeling as though they are.
Lift up on
tiptoes, place the knees on the upper arms, keep trying to pull the knees up
higher, push the sitting bones towards the heels, armpits to waist, chest to
sky.
You will
feel when. You are ready as you will be able to shift your weight forwards and
float up.
Forearm
Stand (Pincha Mayurasana)
From down
dog, lower to your allows, again without letting the chest or lower back sag.
Sitting bones to heels, top of the pelvis back, ribs float towards spine. Head
hangs down. You should be able to see your navel. If you
ribs poke out or drop you will not be able to do this.
This pose
is really tough. Most of us just need to be content to stay here on
our elbows for a while, navel gazing. The most common things that
happen here are that the chest sags, elbows splay, and shoulders start to drop
into ears.
If these
things start to happen then try to rectify them and, if you cannot, go back to
kneeling plank and down dog, every now and then coming back to Pincha
Mayurasana to see if you can maintain the position without losing the
foundations you have set.
Summary
The lower
back is lengthened by moving the sitting bones down and forward towards the
wrists, top of pelvis up to the sky.
The middle
and upper back are lengthened as the ribs and chest move back towards the spine
or ceiling.
The armpits
press in the direction they face.
The posture
creates firmness in the belly. Don't try to pull it in. Breathe
into the belly.
Relax the
neck and face.
Be content.
Remember,
move slowly. If anything does not feel good, back off or don't do it.
May your
practice be safe, peaceful, and happy.
Classes (current at time of posting. See class schedule page for updated details): Mon 1300-1530h @ Barton [private classes] Wed 0615-0715h @ Hapkido Canberra, Colbee Court, Phillip, ACT, $12 Wed 1030-1130h @ Alive! Gym, Narrabundah Wed 1245-1315h @ Menzies Library Lawn, ANU, $5 Sat 0900-1030h @ St Aidan's Uniting Church, Brockman St, Narrabundah, $15 Sun 0900-1030h @ Hapkido Canberra, Colbee Court, Phillip, ACT, $15
Here I focus on keeping the groin-armpit connection then go back again to pressing hands forward but toes and heels backwards. This combined effort causes my knees to become light. They start to lift of their own accord. 
Maintaining those actions (you might need to let up on pushing feet back because they start to be less on the ground), bend your knees and walk your feet forward. I tip-toe forwards trying to stay as light on my feet as possible. 
If I keep pressing armpits to groins and vice versa, press hands forwards, lift knees up to chest, rest them lightly on the back of my arms, press elbows back and towards one another and just keep breathing and leaning forward then you might find yourself floating. Maybe you stay on tip toes. Wherever you are be happy wherever that is. Keep working on being where you are and staying for a little bit longer until you feel comfortable moving to the next stage. 
