Working on bhujapidasana
Practice was super fast again, got through my Primary series sequence in one hour and fifteen minutes including an extra long shavasana. I think I like fast practices, they feel more dynamic than the slow ones. I also tend to take many more extra breaths when I’m having a slow practice, I often come through from a vinyasa and sit there wondering “what next?”. Having said that, I do enjoy a slow practice on occassions.
I’m really feeling the soreness today. Almost exclusively in my lats, I think I can attribute this to bhujapidasana. I’ve been doing the first preparatory pose for bhujapidasana; legs around arms, lock the ankles together, squeeze arms with legs, lift the butt up high. C got me to start getting my head to the ground (second preparatory pose - see the photo on the right). I managed to get my head to the ground, but then I couldn’t get up! I had to cry for help… or more like try to ask for help through my fits of laughter. I must’ve looked funny because the whole class seemed to stop what they were doing and look over at the giggling-bundle-of-knotted-up-in-bhuj chick asking for help to get up.
We have a split class on Wednesdays. C was teaching a beginner’s class while helping the Mysore practitioners. She was talking them through a full urdhva dhanurasana and most of the students couldn’t get it. Before moving on, she said something to the students that I hope they remember forever. C said not to be discouraged by not getting a pose the first time around. She had said the students who will get the greatest benefits out of yoga are the ones who are not be able to do asanas so easily. From the inability to “get” into an asana comes greater humility, one can work losing the ego more than the students who can do everything seemingly with ease. She said she’s become a better teacher by not being able to do everything because it forces you to learn more about the pose and therefore can pass on these tips to your students. It was so wonderful to hear that.
About bhujapidasana, it’s about pushing down your butt to come up…but don’t push too hard or you might lose control and land on your butt…it’s a subtle controlled movement.
Hi Tiff, thanks for your tip! But I’m not 100% sure if I get what you’re saying: “it’s about pushing down your butt to come up”, do you mean pushing down on your head or hands or really pushing down the butt?
I’ve fallen on my butt many times in bhujapidasana so that doesn’t bother me anymore!
I understand subtle controlled movement, from my experience, most balancing asanas require subtle controlled movements.
I lean back (hence, your butt goes down) and I pull my feet back through, they still drag a little, but I’m not pushing with my feet…I just figured this out recently and I just started recently going down very controlled, chin to floor.
Let me know if that still is confusing.
I’ve gotten stuck in bhuja a couple of times — feet wedged between legs, head on ground — and the only way I could come out was to sort of fling myself forward and land on my face. Not cool. But Tiff is right, the “correct” exit is lower your butt slowly (and lift head, push forward with chest) to free your legs.
Oh… I get it! I’ll have to try that for next practice. Thanks for the tips, Tiff and Yogamum, I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’m not even going to think about chin to floor
I have rather weak arms so I don’t suspect I’ll be able to chin-to-floor for a while yet.
Hehe! “fling myself forward and land on my face” that’s hilarious! I’m sure I’ll be learning that move too!
I’m writting you from brazil, where i’ve been practicing ashtanga for a few months. It seems to me that most of the balances, jumps, almost everything, has to do with the strength in our abs, aou uddhyana bandha. Isn’t that right? Everything seems much more controlable when we can control it. Does anybody knows exercises to strenght that particular part of the body?
fantastic ,it is one of my favourite poses ,as i am a yoga teacher myself.