Week 197: How to Grow My Practice

OMG!

I had a blast at another Yoga Central class! I was challenged with so many different poses which I do not practice at home.

It is becoming clear that for my yoga teacher journey to be fruitful and every expanding, I must get to practice outside the four walls of my basement and my Mac!

The pose that gave me a jolt was one I never thought I could do....

Yes, I'd see it on the glossy pages of Yoga Journal and in advanced yoga images in books but to have really done it still astonishes me...

Who knew I could hold my entire body weight on my arms...what an empowering pose!

The pose you ask?

Crane/Crow pose (Bakasana)!

What I have been enjoying about practice in studio is the opportunity to use props I might not have at home such as a foam block (surprising I don't have one yet!).

Our teacher cued us to place a foam block at the top of our mats. I paused for a moment and wandered, what the heck are we doing with a foam block there? Maybe a supported half moon pose or a supported wide-legged forward fold, but not crane pose.

We settled into a deep yogic squat to begin with and allowed a deep flexion of the hips to begin. It became clear that we were in transition to the next pose when we were directed to place our hands on the mat in front of us. Curiously, I hesitated in putting my hands down on the mat initially as I wanted to see what was coming next.

As I intently listened to the cueing, I realized I was needing to release my deep squat and and shift my weight forward onto my hands. The block with positioned as if I had an imaginary triangle with the base as my hands and the top point as the block. I shifted forward and placed my forehead on the foam block. Instantly, I felt my legs come forward and naturally land behind my arms. Whoa...I got this far!

Gently, I lifted my right toes and then my left off the ground with no difficulty.

And of course, I heard the teacher say, "now lift your head off the block". No time to think but I lifted my head with amazement and was sitting or should I say supporting myself solely with my hands.

My brain went to its chitter chatter self and I slowly lost my balance and had to come out of the pose.

I was hooked and tried again and again to get crane pose!

Maybe it was the rush of having my head below my heart or the power I felt in my arms, but it was one of those yoga highs!

After the fact, I did a bit of searching (as I've never written about crane pose before) and found that it is upper body and core strengthener. Um, yes!

Can’t wait to try crow again…even with a foam block for support!
LW