How I Learned Mayurasana Without Practicing

It has taken me a long time to get to a full mayurasana like this one.  Scroll down to the end of the post to see a cool video of how to transition out of gomukhasana via mayurasana, which we practice in my current sequence.

The funny thing is less than six months ago I was trying this pose in the park and I could not extend my legs fully.

The only way I could do the pose was to have bent knees or put them into a bind like padmasana.  Below is a photo taken of me earlier in the year that shows my best effort.

On that day in February it seemed to me unlikely, perhaps even impossible, that I would manage a fuller variation of the posture.

So what changed?

Did I start practicing mayruasana every day?

Actually, no.  I don't remember doing mayurasana very much or at all since then.

The main difference, and what I perceive has made the most difference, is in my last sequence (just finished) I mixed up my surya namaskar slightly.

I like to introduce a little change each sequence--not so much in the poses themselves but the transitions between them or how long we hold them for.

The last sequence I worked with holding my high planks for longer, then incorporated a double push-up with good technique (on my knees most of the time) before lowering to the ground for a shalabhasana variation (prone extension with hands by side).

There were no mayurasanas in my last sequence so there is no doubt that my improved mayruasana was not due to practicing mayurasana.

I am reminded of the time I stopped practicing padmasana because I could not come into it without using my hands.

Instead I worked with good technique in standing postures and one day I decided to try padmasana without hands again and to my surprise I was able to do it.

So it happened today that I tried mayurasana and realised, hey, my legs are straight here!

Mayruasana is a challenge for a lot of women, who tend to be bottom heavy.

In my understanding that is why it is easier for women (but not easy) to come into the pose with knees wide and bent.

The variation I show in my video might work for those who can come into gomukhasana and then perhaps transition to the other side using a gomukhu-mayurasana pose.

This posture is strong on the wrists and you need to have developed a good ability to hold your body weight on your hands without straining the wrists before you try.

I will run through this in class and at my upcoming retreats in Sri Lanka and Bali (www.artofliferetreats.com), but, for now, watch the video and note the placement of elbows somewhere just below the navel, the distance of the knees from the hands, that I am pressing strongly with my fingertips, and that I am maintaining a sense of ease and comfort within a challenging posture.

Look forward to seeing you somewhere soon!

Happy and safe practicing.

Much metta,
Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com
www.artofliferetreats.com

Active Kurmasana

Kurmasana is an intense spinal forward bend and I recommend should only be practiced with a teacher and not by learning from the internet.

This post is mainly to show how long my spine is when I practice this posture rather than as a 'how to'.  I have pictures and a video at the end.

Many people can do a version of this where they straighten their legs but their spine remains very humped up--like a tortoise shell I suppose.

It will indeed remain a little 'humpy' but my effort here is in trying to lengthen.

I do active variations first to firm the tummy (in a way I can breathe and move the spine).  A more active variation would be to lie down and do what I show here.

First, a sort of navasana where knees bend and I make efforts to draw them into my chest.

Then, I try to keep my legs as close to my chest as possible and straighten them.  This will be beyond a lot of people.  Don't let your legs come out too far from your chest.

Next I take my heels and help myself into the posture assisting with the hands.  I try to push my heels into my hands and make efforts to bend my elbows.  I keep chest and thighs close.  I try to keep shoulders and knees together with firm tummy.  The danger when you use your hands here is that your tummy goes soft so make sure tummy stays firm.

Lengthen the legs as much as possible while maintaining previous actions.  In the video you can see me wriggling to lengthen my spine further--while trying to keep my balance. It's a bit tricky.

I keep tummy firm and legs come down.  Knees are bent, spine is long. I recommend you keep spine long and legs bent rather than go for straight legs.  Far better to stay here than strain or force.

Tummy firm, spine long and shoulders go under knees.

Arms straighten out beside me, shoulders under knees, tummy firm, spine long.  I can breathe comfortably.

Slowly I go, keeping tummy firm and spine long.

The video below shows the posture in action. I make particular efforts to also ensure my neck is in a comfortable position and you can see me moving it around. 

Following an intense forward bend like this I do a less intense forward bend like paschimottansasana and then a strong tummy firming posture like bakasana or a high plank.  If you do postures well counterpose is not necessary but I have just made it a practice.

Using active movements and doing the posture 'mid-air' without hands as much as possible ensures I combine strength and flexibility.

I teach something like the 'wowee active hip opening' sequence I just posted prior to this before I do a posture like kurmasana.

This is the approach I take in my classes, workshops and retreats.  Join me if you like--in Canberra, Bali (for our yoga and raw food retreat September 2015) or in Sri Lanka (yoga retreat).  Details of my class and retreat schedule are on the home page of my blog.

Happy and safe practicing.

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.artofliferetreats.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

Yoga On A Block For Strength, Stability, and Mobility

We have been challenging ourselves beyond the high plank to bakasana and handstand of last week's post.

This week we discovered how great a pair of blocks can be to enhance strength, stability, and mobility around the shoulder and spine.  

The video shows us working to a chandra namaskar variation.  Some step by step instructions are below.  I have skipped the half push up that we did.  On reflection it is probably not ideal here.  

Some of the instructions on the block might not be exactly what you do on the ground.  However, the arm actions are pretty similar.  When you do this sequence then do a normal down dog on the ground it will feel as though you are as light as a feather. 

Downward facing dog

You can start with downward facing dog.

We put our wrist on the bevelled edge of the block and the ball of the foot on the other block.

Push down and forward strongly through the hands.  Stay here, make sure you are firm but calm.  No need to go further.

High plank

Then slowly move to high plank.

You want to try to avoid sagging in the shoulders or hips here.  That means you need to really push down and forward with your hands into the blocks. Lift the lower ribs into the upper back.  

With your feet, you also push on the edge.  

The tummy needs to be firm in a way that you can breathe into it so you might just try the high plank on these blocks, rather than the whole sequence. 

Legs are firm as well.  Pushing thigh bones to sky.

You can stay here if you like.  No need to go further.

Upward facing dog

I have skipped the push up we did.  Too stressful for most.  Instead, you could try up dog. 

Again, you push your hands down and forward. Armpits pressing down. Strong in the legs so you do not sag.  

We lowered our pelvis carefully so there is no strain in the lower back.  We kept the firm tummy we had in the high plank.

We lift the chest to lengthen the front without squashing the back. 

Go back through high plank and down dog.  

Lunge

Step a foot forward for a high lunge.

Front foot pushing down and forward strongly.  Pressing with back foot as well. Trying to keep hips raised and tummy stays firm.

You can stay or raise the body and arms.

Hip variation

From there we lowered the torso, hands to block.  We turned the front foot out to the side and allowed the thigh to drop out as well.

Keep legs firm.  Raise the body if you like but remember to lengthen the front without squashing the back.  Do not feel squashing anywhere. 

Back and do it all again on the other side

Back to plank and down dog and repeat on the other side.

Optional extra

Since we were up there already, we decided to try a side split.  

Make sure you try and push the feet down and feel as though you are trying to pull them together.

Ankles are firm. Tummy is firm. 

The end

This was a fun sequence for us to try and enhance our practice.  You can get lazy with your yoga practice sometimes and this type of practice forces you to be mindful and stable. 

You cannot collapse into your flexibility here.  Being between the blocks obliges you to be strong. 

We tried downward dog and handstands after this.  They felt light and free.  Although I was pretty tired I must say!

I always recommend you practice with a teacher.  Do not do anything that strains, squashes, or hurts.  

Happy and safe practicing.

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com

www.artofliferetreats.com

www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

High Plank Foundation For Firm Tummy And Better Arm Balances

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!

Happy and safe practicing.

Much metta,
Samantha

www.artofliferetreats.com
www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

Bakasana on a Block

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!

Much metta,
Samantha

www.artofliferetreats.com
www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com