Uttihita Parsvakonasana

Turkey week so I must have had a bird theme going on this week right? Well no actually. I am not sure how but I seem to have been blissfully unaware of the event. Actually themes in general seem to have waned a little from my classes in recent months.

It was my son James, who is also a yoga instructor, who reminded me it was something I did last year. He had been teaching bird poses this week.

So while the rest of the US has been planning and stressing over Thanksgiving dinner and black Friday, what’s been on my mind? Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose) and it’s many variations. I have been teaching variations of this pose all week.

So here we go with

Old Moon Yoga’s Guide to Uttihita Parsvakonasana

• 

  Hip is too high

  This pose starts with the feet and hips in a similar position to Warrior II. Back foot (left) about 45% with weight in the outside edge. Open the hips to the wide side of the mat.

• Make sure the front knee is not caving in (Pronating if you want to get technical). This can happen when the hips are tight. Check if you can see your big toe past your knee, if you can all is well.
• Now reach forward with right arm and body. Bring the right elbow to the knee. The left arm comes around in front. Now look out under the left arm, up at the ceiling. Feel the chest open towards the ceiling here.
• Some people like to put the right hand to the floor at this point. That’s ok if it improves the pose. Traditionally the arm goes behind the knee. However it is more effective, while working on opening the hip, to bring it in front of the knee. Either way you are looking for one straight line from the outside edge of the back foot, up through the body and on through the outstretched arm.
• Rinse and repeat on the other side of course.
• 

  Looking for a straight line with the leg and body

  This is the basic pose. There are lots of options from here though.

The adjustment
Often, as an instructor, you will the see a hip pop up in this pose. Making more of a dog leg shape rather than a clean line. One obvious adjustment is to rest the hand on a hip that is too high up.

A nice adjustment for stretch on an aligned pose is this. Take hold of the upper, outstretched wrist. Have the yogi lift their back heel off of the floor. Now holding the wrist firmly have them reach the heel slowly back towards the ground.

More quad and ab work
Raise both hands up parallel to each other. Still opening the chest towards the ceiling.

A less intense version is to bend the lower arm and place the hand on the abs. This is a nice position to monitor the breath.

The twist
Similar to the twist in crescent lunge you can take the upper outstretched arm to the knee bringing the hands in prayer position at the heart. With the outside edge of the back foot still on the ground this pose is considerably harder as a twist than the crescent lunge version.

The bind
If flexibility allows, from the standard pose, take the lower arm under the bent knee and the upper arm behind the back. Binding with the fingers or even hand to wrist. Open the chest to the ceiling and look up. This variation causes many yogis to loose their straight line. The hip pops up. Look back at your hip and leg to see if you still have the straight line.

The balance

Lean back and hold the foot.

From the standard position take the lower arm under the knee and place the hand on the floor next to the foot. Now lean back on that arm until the front foot comes of off the ground. You can even hold that foot with your free hand. Some people are able to take the hand and foot over head for what becomes a Vasisthana variation.

So what about Turkey day and bird poses. I was saved by my son’s comments which brought me back to the real world. For

Not with my bad shoulder

my “Friday after thanksgiving” class we did bird poses. I even managed to teach Kapinjalasana (The bird that feeds on raindrops) without embarrassing myself. Which was surprising as I could not balance in the pose at all when practicing earlier in the day. Why are some poses easier to teach than do?
Sounds like a question for another blog.

Child's pose

“Clive can I ask you a question?”
“Of course” Is my immediate response.  I love getting questions during or after class. Someone is interested enough in my opinion to ask a question that’s a pretty nice complement. Makes a change from yogis clock watching for the final 30 minutes and desperately trying to roll their mat up quickly and leave without making eye contact

Downward Facing Dog

Getting to the pose.

• Start in child’s pose with the hands stretched out in front.
• Hands are about shoulder width, perhaps a little wide.
• Spread the fingers really wide. Middle finger facing forwards, thumbs eventually pointing towards each other. As you come up into the pose, most of the weight is on the thumb and forefinger.
• Get length in the back, find a long straight back before you….
• Curl the toes under and lift the knees off of the ground.
• Start to push the knees backwards, moving the legs gradually straighter.

Mistakes in the pose.

• Many people are in too much of a rush to straighten the legs.  Keep the knees slightly bent so you can get more length in the back.
• Weight over the shoulders.  I see many people especially in beginner classes making more an upside own U shape with the body. Usually this is in an effort to get the legs straight. Too much weight comes over the wrists here. I have had Yogis complain of wrist pain in down dog.  This has always been the cause.
• Feet together.  Another common mistake.  With the feet about hip width apart the pose is more stable. The hips are also better aligned for the forward fold.
• Hands splayed outwards.  Have the middle finger facing forward.  Much better for the shoulders and wrists.

Perfecting the pose.

• Roll the shoulders outwards.  Try to broaden the shoulders by rotating the arms and shoulders outwards.  The eyes of the elbows start to point towards each other or even forwards.  The feeling across the shoulders is similar to that in Eagle pose.
• Even though the shoulders rotate outwards most of the weight is on the thumb and fore finder. This is in the opposite direction creating a stretch.
• The head is hanging in this pose.  The gase towards the naval.
• Take a look back at your feet.  Your heels should not be visible.  Line up the feet so that the heels disappear from view behind the ankles.  Now balance the weight between inner and outer ankle.  This probably means lifting the inner ankles slightly, it is very subtle.
• If your heels are close to the ground, most of the weight will be in the balls of the feet.  Try lifting your toes off of the ground.
• As with many poses Uddiyan Bandha (The stomach lock) can also be practiced here as well as Ojjayi breath (victorious breath)

One arm chataranga needs work

As a result of other activities this weekend, not yoga, I have injured my shoulder.  It is going to mean me missing a few of my classes this week.  I have been practicing one armed down dog of course, but my one armed chataranga still needs work.

Ganda Bherundasana - Fierce bird handstand

“I want to teach a level 2-3 class” this was the mantra from me and several others in my teacher training group. Teaching beginners is much harder, was the general opinion amongst us. In an advanced class you can just call out the poses and everyone knows them. Last week, after 18 months of patiently waiting (ok you can substitute “pleading and begging” there if you like ) , I eventually got my opportunity to teach a more advanced class.

Kapinjulasana - The Bird that Feeds on Raindrops

Why are studios reluctant to bill 2-3 classes, especially to new teacher? I think the answer is largely to do with class numbers. I had never really realized this before but the rating of the class is a big consideration for most of the potential students. As I start to spread the word about my new 2-3 class reactions are largely polarized. “Oh 2-3 I don’t think I can do that” or “Good I only do 2-3 classes.” Many yogis see the difference between the two classes similar to that of moving from a beginning class to a 1-2. This makes perfect sense, I had just never thought of it that way until now. The larger cross section of the population is going to be of 1-2 ability so it makes more sense to favor that level. So, as with new radio stations, a second pop station gets you a bigger audience than starting a channel for classics.

There are no real rules about what makes a level 1, 2 or 3 class. The reality is that one teacher’s level 2 is another’s level 3. I have been in 2-3 classes where the poses were too hard even for the teacher. A teacher tumbling sideways out of peacock twisting their wrist and hitting the ground hard is not the best way to inspire new Yogis to “have a go”. I have also been in 2-3 classes where we did nothing but the classic standing and seated posed. No arm balances, or inversions. “You can make a Yoga case for the advanced class being about the breath after all.” Yeh right! In my experience yogis want harder more challenging poses, and ok, we can do a little breathing at the end to indulge the teacher.

With this in mind I have set out to make my three different class levels stepping stones. You get the same basic format for each class. Only the poses and flow get increasingly more challenging. For example we do sun salutation A in all my classes. However, I never do Chataranga in my beginner class, we do Cobra instead. In the 1-2 I introduce Chataranga, and in the 2-3 class I assume it.

Fierce Bird Preparation, now up dog and down dog with that leg in the air

The idea being that, at least within one teacher, you will get some consistency.

So trying not to scare too many people off, I decided to let rip with some challenging poses for the 2-3 class this week. Making it a similar step up from 1-2 as 1-2 is a step up from beginner

During the warm up I introduce “Fierce Bird” preparation. Not the full arm balance with the chin on the ground, but doing vinyasas with one leg in the air. That’s chataranga, upward facing dog, and downward facing dog all with the leg in the air.

Then sprinkled through the class the following little challenges

• Astavakrasana (Eight-Angle Pose)
• Kapinjalasana (The bird that feeds on raindrops)
• Eka Pada Galavasana (Flying Crow Pose)

Astavakrasana - Eight Angle Pose

Astavakrasana (Eight-Angle Pose) This pose builds on the simpler arm balances and strength built through charangas in the 1-2 classes. This is the “must have in my portfolio” pose for teachers. Don’t forget to smile at the camera in this pose.

Kapinjalasana (The bird that feeds on raindrops) builds on a solid down dog and balance developed in the beginner and 1-2 classes. I usually manage to stay in this pose about 1 second before falling out. For some reason on Friday I managed to stay much longer when I demoed. Not pushing my luck I just demoed on one side

Eka Pada Galavasana (Flying Crow Pose) builds on both the standing balances and arm balances such as Crow of course.

So teaching beginners is harder huh? Not so, there is teaching to be done at every stage. In this sequence none of these are poses you can just “call out” and expect people to do. There is plenty of instruction and demonstration to give here. No free ride for this yoga teacher, I am exhausted. Luckily I did not slip and twist a wrist though.

Eka Pada Galavasana (Flying Crow Pose)

Which classes do I like teaching the most? I can’t decide, I love teaching them all, and especially love seeing people progress from beginning through 1, 2, 3, but I guess that is what drives every teacher.

Oh and the 2-3 Yogis said they liked the step up this week, but will they come back next week? We will see

Pigeon

This week marked my 500^th hour of teaching since being let loose on an unsuspected public by the Yoga Alliance. It was about 18 months ago they deemed me certified Like the true Silicon Valley nerd that I have become, I have every statistic you could possibly imagine to go along with this 500 hour fact, including total number of yogis taught, average class size and even seasonal trends. It has been an exciting and eventful 18 months, culminating in my recent opportunity to teach a prime Saturday morning slot at Nandi Yoga.

Nothing magical happens at 500 hours. I don’t suddenly become competent, acquire the ability to chat or even sing ‘Om”. At 500 hours Yoga teachers are eligible to take an additional certification. Presumably the theory is that you have learned enough about teaching, and that you are ready for the next level. I don’t have any plans to do this. I am still learning from my current classes. This week I discovered a new technique for “Bird of Paradise” which it makes it so easy, so much more enjoyable if you struggle with that pose. It was so obvious too; I don’t know why I had not thought of it myself.

Last week, I learned to never leave pigeon out of a class. This rule stood me in good stead this week. Not a riot in sight. So here is

Old Moon Yoga’s guide to pigeon.

• Get ready. I like to come into pigeon from down dog splits. That’s down dog with one leg in the air. Take the right leg up behind and swing the leg through and across the midline. The right heel ending up somewhere close to the left hip. The right knee still on the right side of the body thigh facing forwards. I have noticed that all but the very stiff can achieve this pretty easily.
• 

  Breathe deep here

  Get Set. Ok here is where the challenge comes in. For a lot of people their hip is not on the ground. So their butt is floating around in mid air. “Get something under your butt” I repeat for the umpteenth time. With nothing under the butt the knee is under strain, the body is tensed up and therefore won’t stretch. So any Yogi is this position is in danger of blowing their knee out and in no danger of improving the stretch any time soon. I explain all this and implore people to get a blanket, a block, two blocks, a bolster what ever your need. “You body will release and you will stretch quicker” I suggest to try to counter the ego or stigma that seems to surround the use of any props in a vinyasa class. I scan the room, there are right butts as high as 6 inches off of the floor. With rising doubts as to my communication skills or my ability to finish class on time, I move on to the second phase.

• Get Set (and I do mean it this time ) “Everyone pick your hands up off of the floor. “ I suggest in the next phase of my cunning plan to get people safe for pigeon. “If you tip over like this…..”, I demonstrate how unstable the pose is if that butt is not on the floor. “…. you need something under your butt”. People smile and stare but try desperately to stay balanced while their right butt hovers, the floor tantalizingly close, about a blocks distance actually.
• Get Set (moving on) If your butt is on the floor and you want more, inch worm your back (left) foot way from you. This gradually brings the front (right) shin parallel to the front of the mat. This approach is far easier, and safer, than the technique most Yogis adopt, which is to yank on the front foot trying to pull it forwards as they jerk their body up and back.
• Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged King Pigeon Pose) Come upright and try to tuck the butt under. This tucking is more of a feeling than a movement. This lets you get the back straighter, more upright. If you are very upright you may even be able to interlock the hands behind the back and reach for the floor behind you in a little back bend. This is a great place to take a couple of long slow deep breaths before …
• 

  A Twisted Pigeon Variation

  Coming forward. Releasing the hands now just come straight forward with a flat back. I like palms up, Yin style, as it offers even more release. Try to sink down into the hip. This should be all about the hip and not the knee. The hips coming down to the ground parallel and even. All those Yogis whose butts were floating on mid air have now come forward with hips leaning over to one side. The body preferring to move away from the stretch of course. From my vantage point I can see them all loosing out on the benefits of the pose.

• Adjustments. Adjusting in pigeon is a very delicate affair. It is too easy to put pressure on someone’s knee. As always the first task is to find the right Yogi. The one in a good position for adjustment. Sorry all of you yogis with floating butts, no adjustment for you. Finding someone with parallel hips, I offer just a small adjustment here with one hand on the sacrum the other on spine between the shoulders. It is more of a lengthening of the spine than a push down into the hips. The yogi usually does the deepening themselves.
• Want more? After stretching for a while lift up the chest and place in on the thigh. Reach the left arm forward and across stretching all down the left side of the body.
• Still want more? Taking this a little further lift your left elbow and place it outside of the right thigh. Bring both hands to prayer position at the heart and push them towards the center of the breast bone in a twisted variation of pigeon.
• Still want more? Bring the left arm across the front of the mat, the right hand to the right knee opening up a twisted pigeon.
• Still want more? (Are you one of those “Type A” people?) Take the right hand behind your back and reach for the big toes of the front (right) foot. Finding a full twisted pigeon
• Still want more? You are in luck, we have to do the other side now.

King Pigeon

Butt off of the ground is correct in this pose

Every wondered why it’s called “one legged king pigeon pose”? Actually there is a “one legged pigeon pose II” leading up to the final pose King Pigeon. Ironically this pose is done kneeling so the butt is way in the air. I have included pictures so you can see where we are headed. King Pigeon is a humbling pose that certainly puts the floating butt into perspective, there’s no rushing Yoga. I can’t see me achieving King Pigeon unless reincarnation really happens

Reincarnation is my only hope

One last loose end, that wonderful new technique for Bird of Paradise, darn I am out of time. Here I go starting on my next 500 hours, sometime during that period I will share this insight, for sure.

Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand)

He felt that sharp twinge in his left shoulder again. “Too many chatarangas this week?” he thought to himself as he came out of Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand). “Perhaps I should teach a class where there are no chatarangas.” He immediately dismissed the thought. After so long, the Yogis that came to class would surely find it strange to be in a class with no flow.

He felt that twinge of pain in his shoulder again. “Too many chatarangas this week?” he thought to himself as he slid into Astavakrasana (Eight-Angle Pose)

“Perhaps I should just teach it correctly” He immediately dismissed that thought too. It was only a week or so ago that they had focused on just that.

He felt that bite of pain in his left shoulder again. “Too many chatarangas this week?” he thought to himself as he threaded his way into Eka Pada Koundiyanasana II (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Koundinya II). “Perhaps I should just stop teaching for a week, let it recover.” He immediately dismissed the thought. He was subbing for someone else this week and for the foreseeable future. This double duty would be complicated to give up.

Is that Radiohead on the sound system? “This isn’t me, this isn’t happening.” How can I teach my 8 yoga classes this week if I am injured? Perhaps I should stop this crazy morning warm up routine.

There is only a short amount of time for me get warm for my 7:00am classes. By the time I get there, typically, 10 minutes is all I have to get warmed up and focused. I need something to get me there quickly and have got into the routine of warming up for my early morning classes like this:-

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) - Hold it for a good while; feel the stretch as the back begrudgingly agrees to participate.

Astavakrasana

Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) – Now, with the hands on the ground I spring up into handstand, trying to get as upright in the handstand as possible. My preferred method of getting into handstand is to spring with both feet together rather than kick one leg up first. Now you might think handstand as the second pose on a morning is even crazier than getting up 6:00am to teach. Handstand, though, is great for clearing the mind and getting concentration, in fact any of the inverted balances are. It’s hard to think about anything else when you are balancing upside down. So I recommend handstand or some inversion before any class.

Astavakrasana Prep 2

Astavakrasana (Eight-Angle Pose) – For this I start seated. Bend the leg and put it on my bent arm. First I lift my butt and both legs off of the floor, then leaning the body forward and pushing the legs sideways into the full pose. I check my posture and like the mandatory picture on any new yoga teacher’s class flier, I smile and try to make it look effortless for the man in the mirror.

Astavakrasana prep 3

Eka Pada Koundiyanasana II (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Koundinya II). From Eight Angle Pose uncross the feet, and bring the underneath leg back through the hands and extend it out behind you. The challenge in this transition is to get all the way back into the pose without putting either foot on the floor.

Still need more? Try coming back into Eight Angle Pose again without the feet touching the ground. This usually

Astavakrasana

has me rolling around on my back breathing very hard so I typically vinyasa at this point before tackling the other side.

Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Forward Bend) – Now it’s over to the wall for this wide legged fold. With no one to adjust me, I forward fold towards the wall and inch worm my back down the wall to get deeper into the pose. The wall is a great partner. Hands can go either on the floor or on the wall behind you.

This mild inversion should act as a little slow down after all those party poses. However it’s usually at this point the first Yogi steps into the studio. Circling upright, hot, still panting and red faced, I greet them. You can see the look of confusion on their face, “wow this guy is worn out just doing forward folds.”

I taught a later class this morning, 10:30am, so Yogis were already filtering in when I started to warm up. Even though it was a 2-3 class all that crazy balance stuff seemed inappropriate, even off-putting for people as they came into class.

Best keep my morning warm up a secret, along with my shoulder injury. Actually the shoulder was fine in class today. I think it was actually our recent office move and it just needed a day off. It will be headstands at the crack of dawn next week, as usual.

Shoot the Moon

“What is this morning’s theme going to be?” Dawn asked me as I was getting ready to sub John’s Saturday morning class. When I was subbing this class on a regular basis I would go all out. As if preparing for some small Broadway play I would pick the theme the week before, research appropriate music, even create a special set of intro music to tease the class into guessing. It was a busy week at work, no time to prepare. I looked down at my new Yoga shirt. “The moon” I replied and just as Andrew Lloyd Webber didn’t for Phantom of the Opera, I made the rest up as I went along. In doing so I found some interesting transitions to a couple of the harder half moon variations.

Half Moon

Not surprisingly there are lots of poses associated with the moon. It is Hatha Yoga after (Ha = sun, Tha = moon). Usually we start the class with sun salutations. Today it was moon salutations. They are very similar just a little gentler.

• From the forward fold step back into a low crescent moon lunge with the knee down.
• Reach the hands up and look up. Want more? Curl the back toes under and straighten the back leg by pushing the heel away. Try to keep the hips low.
• Step back down dog
• Step forward to forward fold and come all the way up to standing.

That is pretty much the sequence for my moon salutations. Variations include:- Twisted crescent lunge, Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, binding this twist or even the arm balance Eka Pada Koundiyanasana II (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Koundinya II). Which means you can vary the class and make it possible to do the sequence for all levels.

During the standing sequences of course there was plenty of chance to throw in Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose) half moon. First in the warm up, twisted half moon arrived at from standing splits, not an easy transition. Then bound half moon, arrived at from bound triangle. It was noticeable how much easier yogis found it to release the bottom hand and bring it to heart’s center when in bound half moon using this transition.

Twisted Triangle first then ...

A better sequence to get to twisted half moon, which we also did, is this, :-

• Parsvottanasana (Pyramid Pose/ Intense Stretch Pose )
• Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose)
• Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana (Revolved Half Moon Pose)

Revolved half moon is a real “crowd pleaser” of course because it is quite a challenging pose. But this way in, through revolved triangle results in far less groans from the participants. I usually take that as a good sign The difference in everyone’s pose is clear when we enter via triangle rather than standing splits too.

.. Twisted Half Moon is just a matter of lifting the back leg

Finally a balancing vinyasa which is a great doorway into the variation of half moon where you hold the back foot. There is a sanskrit name for this pose of course, and someone told me what it was this week too, but it escapes me now. Usually there is flailing around on one leg in half moon whilst trying to grab the back foot which insists on flapping inches from the outstretched fingers, not so with entrance. You might even call it graceful. Here is the balancing sequence.

• Natarajasana (Lord of the Dance pose)
• Forward fold to this variation of half moon holding the foot (insert your sanskrit of choice here, just hope the studio is not full of experts when you teach)
• Release the foot to half moon
• Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III Pose)

Don’t be put off if everyone complains doing this sequence on the first side. This happened to me in class on Wednesday. But like the good drill sergeant I am we carried on and did the other side. Suddenly everyone could do it.

Maybe I should be planning next week’s Saturday class already, if I thought of the moon idea in advance I could have lined up music to match, maybe even made the intro tunes for the Norah Jones album. There is no excuse this week,I have plenty of time to make Andrew proud, alternatively I may just pull on a different tee shirt Saturday morning and see what happens.

Keeping an eye on the bookends

They were both new to my class, they came together, both relatively new to Yoga. I think mine was their first venture beyond beginner classes. No problem, I will keep my eye on them and give extra assistance and options. For some reason they take up positions at either end of the studio. They could not have been further apart, unless I opened the back door and let one practice in the car park. Like two bookends they are positioned as far from me as possible. So doing my best Marty Feldman impersonation we begin class.

I love to have new people in class, of course, and try to make the class as “all levels” as possible but a little “remote teaching” was needed here. This should be a doddle (sorry, I think it’s an English expression) as earlier this week I was able to share some yoga moves with someone as far away as the east coast.

Pincha Mayurasana (Feathered Peacock Pose) or more specifically Vrschikasana (Scorpion Pose). Vrschikasana a pose almost as hard to do as it is to pronounce, is very similar to pincha – you just let your legs drop over until your feet are on your head. Yeh right! After extensive research (a Google search), I have determined that this pose is only possible if you are young (I fail), slim (I fail), and female (mmm don’t even know how to qualify). If you don’t possess these three key attributes, join us mortals for which scorpion is pincha with back arched, the knees bent, and the feet waving around like divining rods in search of underground water.

The secret to success with both of these poses, like all balances, is getting a stable base. Once you have that stable base you can begin to learn the secrets of the balance and acquire the muscle memory necessary to stay in the balance. As we are on our arms in this pose, the arm position is critically important. The traditional position for the arms is in line with the shoulders and parallel to each other. The correct position, though, is the one let’s you balance upside down, after all you probably won’t have your feet on your head either.

When I was learning, we were shown a couple of positions designed to get those arms in the traditional parallel position. A block between the hands, palms up. A block between the hands with the hands flat and thumbs wrapping the block. Both of these get the shoulder parallel but do nothing to help stabilize the balance. A year or so ago a teacher showed me the following arm position. It feels a little odd at first, but it ready does help stabilize things

Old Moon Yoga’s guide to Pincha Mayurasana and Vrschikasana

• Start with the arms out in front parallel like usual.
  

  Arms parallel

• Then turn the hands over so they are facing up, still parallel.
  

  Turn palms up first

• Now turn the hands over so that the thumb and forefinger meet. The wrists can be a little bit raised. It feels a little weird, you can even take your elbows a little wider too (not too much though)
  

  Turn hand over, thumb and fore finger touch

• This should give you a much more stable base when you kick up. It is very similar to clasping the hands together but allows you to spread the hands for control over the stability.

My remote Yogi said this helped her. Mind you, I also learned she was able to walk her feet down the wall to her head for scorpion. Clearly she possesses those 3 attributes blocking me from a perfect scorpion

Coincidentally I came across this video from a Yoga teacher and friend of mine, Cora Wen. She demonstrates how to use the wall and a chair to improve your scorpion. http://www.youtube.com/user/CoraYoga#p/a/u/1/YnLMkPelHP4

YouTube, another form of remote teaching for yoga. Makes my two bookends challenge seem like a walk in the park.

So easy a child could do it

Last week I googled “yoga crazy arm balance” looking for images to brighten up my blog and make it at least vaguely interesting to both of my readers. To my surprise one of the images was me! It was not a particularly crazy arm balance. In fact it was probably the simplest of arm balances, crow Bakasana (or Crane Pose)

When I wrote the crow blog I had in mind covering a series of arm balances with increasing degree of difficulty. I never imagined it would lead me to the opportunity to “star” in a google search result. Has this become the modern day equivalent of 15 minutes of fame everyone is supposed to have? A first page result on Google. Anyway with ego, mostly, in check I think it’s time to talk side crow.

Crazy Yoga arm Balance?

What is side crow? “Well it’s crow, on your side Avi.” Plagiarizing a line from the movie Snatch to make my point here. Side crow is just like crow but with both legs to one side. Most of the same core traits of crow apply here there are several recipes but for each one there are some essential ingredients. Don’t listen to all that talk about just balance and not really about core strength.

Ingredients

Core strength - Medium amount

Arm strength - Lots of

Wrist strength - Lots of

Ability to balance - Several heaped spoonfuls

Old Moon Yoga’s guide to side crow

Side Crow, using both arms

This pose has a lot in common with crow and other arm balances. There are some not so subtle differences though. If you can’t twist and put your elbows on your thigh, this pose is probably not for you. If you can’t curl your knees close to your chest, keep practicing crow for a little longer. Crow favors more body types and degrees of flexibility than side crow. This is my subtle attempt at suggesting if you have a belly in the way it might be worth working on other poses first

Variations on a theme.

Getting into this pose is usually taught with the Yogi squatting, balanced on the toes. In this position the legs are already in the right place but it is really had to balance on your toes, squat, twist to your left and gracefully fall sideways onto your arms.

The pose is usually taught balanced on one are too. Forget that at first, get balanced on both arms. Save the one arm version until you are younger, like the child in this picture.

• Start kneeling on the right leg with sole of the left foot on the ground. Your left thigh is parallel to the ground in this position. This is the thigh you are going to balance on.
• Reach up with your right arm and take the twist. Right elbow to left knee.Can’t get your elbow to your knee? sorry you are not ready for side crow.
• Now lock your left elbow into your thigh too. Both elbows into the thigh. Arms about shoulder width apart, well it’s hard to put them anywhere else when you are twisted like a pretzel.
  Can’t get your elbow locked in. You have two options. Give up, or attempt the one armed version.
• Spread your hands wide and start to tilt the body bringing the hands towards the floor. You are in the right body position for the pose. Just keep tilting towards the floor. The upper arms become the platform on which the thigh rests.
• At this point it’s a bit like a trust fall until the hands are on the ground. Make sure they are shoulder width apart.
  Don’t have the trust? Come on it’s not that far down? Still can’t do it? Sorry back to crow pose for you.
  Hurts your wrists? Practice crow, down dog, plank and other wrist strengthening poses.
• Now with hands on the ground keep leaning forward. Look out in front of you, way out in front. Keep moving the weight over your hands until the front foot comes off of the ground. You are all most there, breath
• From here a little more forward movement will bring the trailing leg off of the ground too. Your up!
• Bend the trailing leg so both knees are together and your there. Side crow.
• Try to land back in the kneeling position then try it all again on the other side.

Side crow legs wide Eka Pada Koundiyanasana

Need more poses for your next party?

From here there are other variations you can experiment with.

1. Straighten both legs to a pike position.
2. Take the straight legs wide apart. The left goes forward and right back and up. This is Eka Pada Koundiyanasana I (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Koundinya I)
3. If that is not enough try taking your legs into Tree pose

Party pose material side crow with legs in tree

Have fun with it, get someone to take your picture and post it to the web. Who knows your 15 minutes of Google fame may be just around the corner. I am off to try “crazy yoga party poses” as a google search:)

Tuesday Morning

Two minutes to seven and no one has arrived yet. The morning class looks like being a small one today. After getting up at 6:00am to be here it’s a little disappointing of course. My mind starts to switch gears. With a minute to go I am now hoping no one will show. I can have a little private practice and get to work early. Time to crank up the volume and indulge myself.

Worse case scenario? In walks a new student, struggling with the volume control and to find my most professional smile I welcome him. After the introductions I realize this is someone I have been conversing with via email for a few weeks. He is new to Yoga, worried about his ability to keep up, and possibly embarrassed if he is “not good enough”. Also a little intimidated by the ladies perhaps, which is why he was thinking of starting with a male instructor? The idea of yoga not being a competition is not something that sits easily with first time yogis. Ah well no problem it’s 7:00am and time to start class.

Worse case scenario….? One minute late, well the clock in the studio is really just an approximation so I may be being hard here, in walks one of my semi regulars. She has a beautiful practice developed over many years. The kind of Yogi that can do all the arm balances you can throw out and add two more in for good measure. Usually when she is in class I try to amp things up a little so she feels she got a work out.

This is going to be interesting. My two students are like chalk and cheese, nothing quite like a challenge to wake me up on a morning. “I’m not here, this isn’t happening…..” fills the room as Radiohead is still playing on the sound system. The complication with morning classes is they don’t come labeled as any particular level. It’s not a beginner class and not a level 3. So you get anyone who is willing to get up that early.

Teacher training never prepared me for this. “Teach your own class” That was the guidance. That’s fine if there is a room full of Yogis and one person is getting left out. I have two here. Yin and Yang, one struggling to step back and forward in vinyassa, the other can do more poses than I can. How do I make this enjoyable for both of them?

I love teaching, any and all levels. My Sunday morning beginner class is my largest of the week and I really look forward to teaching it. Later this day I sub a 2-3 class and have great fun too. Taking the two extremes and lining them up 3 feet from each other is a completely different challenge though.

The solution was to stick to the basic poses and offer variations of course. Throwing political correctness to the wind, my female regular gets as many adjustments as I can muster, while the male beginner gets hands off advice. (See a previous blog about my rule to never adjust someone during their first class.)

Class ended and each smiled and said they would be back. “We will see” I thought to myself, though I enjoyed class, it was neither one thing or the other. I am not sure I did enough to encourage the new guy back or enough to keep the semi regular from looking for other morning teachers.

Thursday Morning

2 minutes to and no one had arrived yet. It looks like classes will be small this week. I reach for the volume control on the sound system.

Best case scenario at this point? Then in walks a regular from my evening classes. Less than 12 hours ago she was in my last class of the evening. We joked about her coming this morning but I did not imagine she would, really quite a complement. Well either that or the fact the next Yoga studio is miles away in the next city Until now I have been the only one crazy enough for Yoga until 9:00pm followed by Yoga at 7:00am. I am impressed. She has a nice practice too. “Looks like it is going to be quiet” I say “anything you want to focus on?”

Best case scenario at this point? One minute past, well the clock ……oh right you know about the clock….. In walks my semi regular from the Tuesday class. Up until this point I did not know what I was going to teach but the Yang and Yang combination this morning allowed me to pull some sequences from some 2-3 classes I have taught in the past. It was a tougher class than I usually teach in the morning, but they both seemed to enjoy it.

So was it the adjustments that brought the regular back today? Possibly. So for savasana I give them both shoulder, leg and hip adjustments, followed by a little foot massage. Got to keep the “customers” happy

It was an interesting week for morning classes. I enjoyed them both, by contrast my evening class this week was very normal very usual. Teaching morning classes certainly keeps you on your toes and wakes you up.

Of course if no one shows there is always Radiohead and that volume control.