Regarding the last pic, I’ve been told to NOT put the block under the hamstring while you’re trying to stretch it. You should have a block under each hand instead. I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this.
New yoga channel on YouTube - Breaking Down Dog.
Here they’re breaking down Sun Salutation A. Has some good cues in it!
The Chatarunga vid is good, too! Again, great cues.
Bigger, full version here (via imgur)
#Asana of the Week: Baddha Konasana
#yoga #asana #cobblerpose #baddhakonasana #boundangle
lots more pics like this at wellbeyondmars.tumblr.com!
Sadie Nardini teaching crow pose.
If your new to yoga, you can keep your toes on the mat (like how she is at 1:15) and work on moving weight out of your toes into your hands but still keeping your toes lightly on the mat. You’ll still be doing a LOT of work.
Do you know what’s wrong with this chaturanga dandasna?
The head of her shoulder is pointing down! Read more about subtle alignment suggestions for your chaturangas in this Yoganonymous post!
Begin in a squat. Balance on the balls of your feet, quads engaged, hands to your heart. Keep the spine long, crown of your head lengthening up towards the sky and shoulders down your back. Now, twist! Begin on the right side, left elbow to the outside edge of the right knee. Feel the twist happening from the center of your spine, your ribs, your core (no need to take it up the cervical spine), keep the neck long, shoulders relaxed and hips squared. A good trick here is to make sure your knees are in line with one another – if the left knee is poking out in front of the right it means your hips are uneven. Draw the crease if the left hip back, and both knees and hips will level out.
From here, gently place the palms of the hands down onto the floor, shoulder-width apart with your fingers spread wide (index pointing forward). Lift your hips up, placing the outer right thigh on top of the left upper arm/elbow. Keep the right elbow squeezing in – think chaturanga with the arms (alternatively place the outer right hip on top of the right elbow – this can be a good way to start while you’re still building strength for the full pose. You can imagine you’re making a little table top here with your elbows and triceps, placing your knee and hip on top). Lean forward, keeping the gaze up and heart reaching ahead and keep shifting your weight onto your arms until your feet lift off the floor. There is no jumping or kicking involved to get here. You are now in Parsva Bakasana (side crow), find your balance, breathe and make sure you don’t crunch up around the neck! Eventually that right arm will float, and we’ll work up towards straight arms. From side crow (bent elbow version), split and extend your legs out to the side moving into Eka Pada I, beginning with the bottom leg first. Activate every single muscle of the legs and keep the chest moving forward – don’t drop your gaze! As we’re just on a short pit stop here, enjoy the pose but begin preparing to lean even more of your weight forward. The trick to getting from Eka Pada I to fallen angel is to slide the right elbow in towards the waist, almost to the lower ribs. Lean forward, keep hugging everything in and use your core strength to slowly slowly lower your temple down towards the floor. We are not going for a face plant here – you actually want to keep next to no weight on your head, all the strength is still coming from the core (in the full pose the cheek barely grazes the mat) as opposed to collapsing your whole body weight down. Make sure the right shoulder stays lifted here! Keeping the right elbow to your waist, start to extend the left leg straight up towards the sky above. With the outer right thigh still balancing on the elbow, angle the right foot up towards the left leg, keeping the right knee bent. Both feet are now pointing up towards the sky, so spread those toes, relax your face… And smile. Breathe here, lower your weight back onto the arms and either come out vinyasa style through chaturanga or gently make your way into child’s pose. Now do the other side :)
Fallen Angel 101 via Rachel Brathen Yoga
Meditations In Wonderland: Thich Nhat Hanh's Smiling Meditation »
“To meditate well, we have to smile, a lot… I always say that a smile can be a practice, a kind of yoga practice. Yoga of the mouth: you just smile even if you don’t feel joy and you’ll see after you smile that you’ll feel differently. Sometimes the mind takes the initiative and sometimes you have to allow the body to take the initiative.Sometimes the spirit leads, and sometimes the body can lead.” -Thich Nhat Hanh
- First, center yourself. Breathe in, and with every exhale feel yourself become more calm. Once you have reached a state of calm and relaxation, turn all of your energy into your head, make your head a focus point of your energy.
- With your eyes closed, let attention move to the inside of your eyes. Feel how wonderful your eyes are - they are the window to the world you see every day. Check in with them and feel them as they Are. Do the same with your nose, focusing your attention there next. Feel what it is like for you nostrils to breathe.
- Next, send the focus lower to your mouth. Feel the inside of your mouth, letting your tongue relax behind your teeth. Feel your lips resting in their natural state. Move your attention downward to your chin, feeling your chin and jaw slacken and become calm, relaxed, and aware of its presence.
- After your face has been acknowledged throughout your practice so far, lend awareness to your face as a whole. With all of the parts relaxed, let your entire face reach a neutral and natural position.
- Finally, focus attention again on your lips. Slowly raise the corners of your lips upward, letting yourself attain a relaxed and gentle smile. Widen your smile until you feel it connect with your Inner smile - you will feel yourself click into a certain harmony of being. Notice your energy begin to shift, you should feel a warm sense of peaceful energy beginning to well up and then radiate from your body.
- Now, maintaining the smile, return attention to your eyes. Bask in the feeling of warmth, relaxation, and uplifted energy. Allow your eyes, while still closed, to smile too. Connecting the smile of your eyes with the smile of your lips will help you tune into your true Inner smile, that inner sense of harmony that you feel with your mind, body, and spirit.
- Hold this smile until you feel awareness start to come through to the rest of your body. When you choose to end your practice, end it slowly for the lingering effects of the meditation to uplift your energetic presence and sense of well being.
Thanks for posting!
Also put weight here during a handstand. Think of your hands in a handstand like being your feet when you stand. You don’t have all your weight in just your heel. You use your whole foot.
Click the picture for a handstand tutorial.
Read a lot of these things and PRACTICE and you’ll get it!
