Parsva Bakasana

We had a great time and the hip and arm balance workshop last Saturday.  It was pretty tiring but fun at the same time.

One of the poses we looked at was parsva bakasana.  We spent a lot of time doing variations of this pose in different orientations to gravity so that the final pose felt (almost) effortless.

This pose requires a combination of squatting, twisting, and arm balancing.  Below is one of the ways you can get yourself flying into it! Before you try, warm up with general squats, twists, planks, side stretches, and some down dogs.


Shoulder Scooping

You definitely need to employ 'scooping' of the shoulders in this pose.  Take your arms out in front of you and bend your elbows.  Your fingers will point up to the sky, fingers spread.

Now, imagine and feel your armpits.  Press them down towards your waist, forwards, and towards one another.  Your shoulder blades should come around the side of your ribs and your upper back should feel broad.

Squatting

Bring your feet together, ankles pressing together but heels apart.  Lift the heels high and press the toes down.  Bend the knees slightly, as you do so, tighten behind the knees.

Keep bending the knees more, making sure to stay firm behind the knees and keep lifting the heels.

Lower until your bottom almost touches your heels.  Don't let the bottom 'sink'.  This is an active squat where your body feels light and as though it is moving up.

In the squat, press the sitting bones down and forward, as though you are scooping them towards your heels. This will bring a firmness to your lower belly without you needing to pull the navel to the spine.

Twist and turn

Keep the scooping shoulders and pressing the sitting bones forwards then turn to one side and fold forward, trying to get your opposite elbow and outer thigh touching.  They need to stay stuck together.

Once you have the connection between the arm and thigh, continue to scoop the shoulders and scoop the sitting bones.

Hands to Floor

Keeping all of these actions, take the hands to the floor so they are flat.  The hand closest to you will have more weight on it at this stage.  Move sitting bones forward, scoop the shoulders.  Hands pressing down.

Swing 

Once the hands are on the floor, shift your body weight sideways so there is more weight through the outside hand.  You won't feel the weight is even between both hands but you will need to shift weight from the near hand or you won't get left.  As you swing to the side your bottom will float away from the heels a little as the pelvis comes with you.  You will need to keep the thighs and arm bones connected though.  Keep scooping arms and pressing sitting bones forward.

Lift

Once you have swung to the side you need to go forwards as well.  Keep shifting the weight more and more forwards until your feet start to feel irresistably light.  Sitting bones move forwards, shoulders are scooping.  You can move your top hip towards your top shoulder as though trying to shorten the top side waist and, voila, the feet should lift off!

May your practice be happy, safe, and free!

Hips & Arm Balance Workshop: Heads Up

If this elephant can balance then so can you!

Looking at some of the more advanced yoga poses my mind sometimes does a loop-the-loop as it mentally tries to calculate how on earth my body can get itself into the position.  Some of the tricky arm balances, like astavakrasana (below), are no exception. 

That’s one of the reasons workshops are so great.   Your teacher has done all the looping around beforehand to deconstruct the pose into its teeny-tiny building blocks so your body understands how to get there. 

I have taken a batch of pretty ‘thorny’ arm balances for this Saturday’s workshop and will take you through them step-by-step.  Whether or not you do the final pose is not the point as my aim is to help you cultivate strength, stability, and freedom that will bring you closer to them. 

I have chosen poses that not only challenge our hips but also require a bit of twisting and side bending so you’ll come away with a beautiful spine!

We’ll take a look at how on earth we could think of getting into astavakrasana (above), as well as parsva bakasana (below).

I will take you through the steps of eka pada koundinyasana II (and maybe even I).  And we’ll see if there is time for vismaristasana (below). 

If your mind is now doing a loop-the-loop don’t worry.  I have developed a few nifty tricks of my own to help us find our way into our own expressions of these poses while remaining mindful that it doesn’t really matter if you find the final pose.  In yoga it is the way into the pose that is infinitely more interesting and beneficial. 

Here’s a bit of a head’s up on some of the ways we will find our way into these poses at the workshop this Saturday.

1.         I will give you tips on how to firm your belly to create lift and power without having to grip it or suck it in!
2.        I will give you tips on how to use your hands and shoulders so you don’t sink or collapse and so your wrists remain free.
3.       I will teach you a few ‘tricks’ on how to create greater mobility in the hips without compromising stability.
4.      I will help you find ways to release your spine so that it moves in greater freedom.

This workshop is 2.5 hours.  Don’t be daunted.  The last 30 minutes is for meditation and relaxation.  There’ll be plenty of time for us to have mini rest breaks throughout the sequence as well.  I know some people might not be able to stay for the entire workshop so if that is you then just let me know beforehand so I can cue you to an appropriate time to do so. 

In the off-chance we need to change venue or something then I will let you know by SMS if you have given me your number!

It is so sunny and beautiful we will again be practicing by Lake Burley Griffin up on the plateau behind the grass bowl and flags.  We will be under some trees on the high court side.  Starts at 9 and finishes at 1130 (includes long relaxation).  Cost $25. Bring water your mat and a beach towel and wear sunscreen/sunglasses/hat!

Looking forward to sharing some yoga with you.