Thoughts on flying
Jan. 21st, 2011 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muck_a_luck posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sun_salutationSo, suddenly, this morning I seem to be able to do Bakasana. I did three repetitions, and it didn't feel like it has felt before, when it was like a precarious balance. It felt strong and secure, like I knew what I was doing (finally).
So what the heck happened?
Here are a couple of my thoughts about that.
I have been wallowing in Sadie Nardini routines for the last couple of weeks. This means that I have been doing her core sun salutations. I think that core plank (7) and the Down Dog/Plank waves (5) have made a huge difference in my abdominal strength. That allowed me to really lift my lower body up from the core to balance on my arms in a way that I just could not before. If you are trying to achieve Bakasana, I highly recommend that before you step your foot forward between your hands for any standing posture, you throw in three strong repetitions of core plank on that leg. Not only will it help develop the muscles you need for Bakasana, but it will also help you step your foot through more cleanly (if that is also a problem for you, which it certainly has been for me for years).
Also, the way Sadie presents Bakasana made me realize that I have been trying to balance on the wrong part of my arm. To get into Bakasana the right way, I really needed to dig deep in Malasana, so that my knees were pressing very high into the bicep, just below the shoulder, rather than trying to get a balance point around the elbow area.
Yoga Journal recently put out a Daily Insight related to Bakasana that emphasized that one of the biggest mistakes people make when they are failing at this pose is that they distribute their weight too high. Getting that core strength to be able to achieve the necessary lift to, counter-intuitively, stay low I think was really critical to me starting to get this posture.
Anyway. My thoughts on the changes that have happened for me to get to this posture, in case they make sense to anybody else.
So what the heck happened?
Here are a couple of my thoughts about that.
I have been wallowing in Sadie Nardini routines for the last couple of weeks. This means that I have been doing her core sun salutations. I think that core plank (7) and the Down Dog/Plank waves (5) have made a huge difference in my abdominal strength. That allowed me to really lift my lower body up from the core to balance on my arms in a way that I just could not before. If you are trying to achieve Bakasana, I highly recommend that before you step your foot forward between your hands for any standing posture, you throw in three strong repetitions of core plank on that leg. Not only will it help develop the muscles you need for Bakasana, but it will also help you step your foot through more cleanly (if that is also a problem for you, which it certainly has been for me for years).
Also, the way Sadie presents Bakasana made me realize that I have been trying to balance on the wrong part of my arm. To get into Bakasana the right way, I really needed to dig deep in Malasana, so that my knees were pressing very high into the bicep, just below the shoulder, rather than trying to get a balance point around the elbow area.
Yoga Journal recently put out a Daily Insight related to Bakasana that emphasized that one of the biggest mistakes people make when they are failing at this pose is that they distribute their weight too high. Getting that core strength to be able to achieve the necessary lift to, counter-intuitively, stay low I think was really critical to me starting to get this posture.
Anyway. My thoughts on the changes that have happened for me to get to this posture, in case they make sense to anybody else.