Conquer Bakasana (Yoga Crow Pose)

Gillster,

Here is a latest pic of Venkat doing a side crow variation.

I dont think this version is something I can conquer in this lifetime, but if 43things is still here when I get around to a next birth, perhaps I will mark it done. :)

Conquer Side Crow (Yoga Pose)
http://www.43things.com/things/view/1967334/conquer-side-crow-yoga-pose

Me doing the crow pose

I thought I had a breakthrough in Yoga class today. Venkat my Yoga guru even captured it on camera (this pic is a real photo as you can see…not the low res nonsense from my camera mobile phone)

Venkat sent me an email with the pic as attachment.

The subject said Vee’s Bakasana, World’s Kakasana

This pose, where the knees rest above bent elbows is only the humble Crow (Kaka in sanskrit). The mighty Crane (Baka in sanskrit) is a tall, proud bird. The arms need to be straight and the knees need to be just below the armpits.

So, yes I have ideed conquered the peak of Mt Crow. Mt Crane looms ahead, and I am not even one step up that slope.

Are Yoga Gurus allowed an evil sense of humor?

I managed to keep both feet off the ground for a decent 15 seconds or so today.

I need to get my knees higher up on my arms and to stay in the pose longer.

I discovered Yoga just a few months ago. I am Indian. Yet I discovered my favorite form of fitness, good old, Indian Yoga, in my 39th year.

My yoga guru is Venkat. He is not just a very talented yogi, he has a yoga heart too. When I started classes with Venkat at my gym, a lady from the United States who was visiting India, also signed up. When it was time to return she was disappointed at not being able to continue her practice with Venkat. He made time to shoot a beautiful DVD of them practicing together for her to carry home and practice to.

A few classes into Yoga, and Venkat felt we were ready for the Urdhva Dhanurasana or Upward Bow (as in bow-and-arrow) pose. This is a backward bend. Usually, you start from a supine lying position and raise your back upwards so that you are supported on all fours. Almost every body in the class whooshed upwards into a bow. My body stayed stubbornly on the floor. In subsequent classes I tried and I tried. No luck. “Push with your hands.” I pushed with all my might. Nothing.

I looked up the Internet for instructions on how to do the pose. I downloaded complicated multi-stage instructions and kept trying them. Nothing worked. It made things worse.

Venkat told me. Relax. The day you stop trying so hard you will do it. Easier said than done.

Watch DVD workouts where the pose is done to learn the technique said my sister, Renu. I watched and I watched. I could never replicate.

My sis lives in another city. When I next visited her, I made her and my neice, Neerja, repeat the Urdhva Dhanurasana and watched what they did. Something clicked. I was “pushing” the floor with my palms. They were not just pushing, they were raising their torsos too. Almost like rising from a full squat to a stand. You press down on your feet. But more importantly you raise your hips. I had to pretend my hands were feet, and my upper torso represented my hips, then replicate the action of rising from a very deep squat.

Neerja placed one hand under my back to support me and helped me raise myself a few times. I felt jubiliant, hanging in a backbend without support once she helped me rise.

I went back to Chennai and told Venkat I could do the Urdhva Dhanurasana if he helped me in class. He refused. You can do it. The block is in your mind. That day in class, I had no expectation that I would be able to do it. I tried without any real faith that I would rise. Whoosh. Without support. I did it!

I still need to perfect my Urdhva Dhanurasana as this picture shows. My “bow” needs to arch higher and be less wide. I am sure I will get there soon.

These pictures were shot using my mobile after class today.

I need to get better at so many things in Yoga:

a. I cannot do a handstand without support of a wall. Not yet sure I aspire to. Ditto for a headstand. I have not tried a headstand against a wall. I do the beginner prep now.
b. My Chaturanga-Dandasana (Low Plank Pose) is not deep enough. During a Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) I cannot flow smoothly from Chaturanga to the Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose), in the unmodified “real” version. My shoulders and pectorals are not strong enough.
c. My Paripurna Navasana (Full Boat Pose) is pathetic.

I want to do b and c and much more. But what I want most, is to do the Bakasana.

According to Venkat, my yoga guru, Yoga is in the mind. He says my block to achieve this pose is in my mind because I have all the necessary strength.

I am going to practise at least thrice a week until I crack this. Then come back and paste a picture of myself in Bakasana.