Friday, February 23, 2007

A "Yay" moment!

I had "YAY!!!!!" moment in class last night. We were doing Sirsasana B (Tripod Headstand) and the instructor throws out there that if we wanted to, we can try to bring our knees back down and see if we can go right into Bakasana (Crow Pose) and I was totally able to do it for a few seconds. Sometimes a few seconds is enough to shoot your confidence through the roof. When I tried it for a second time, I fell right on my butt but that's ok! I was still pretty stoked.

Tripod headstand is, for me, the scariest of inversions. Sometimes I can do it away from the wall but I prefer not to, I still need that security. This may sound a little funny but I sometimes have a hard time finding the crown of my head. I wonder if I'm suppose to tilt my head back a little more or what. I still feel like there is too much pressure on my head and neck and not enough weight on my hands. Is there suppose to be weight on my hands? If so, how????

I get nervous when I get wobbly too. I think it's easier to fall out of a regular headstand than Tripod. Anyone have any insight to offer on this pose? This is a pose that I need to practice more at home. Right now I can do it if I bend my knees and rest them on my elbows but I would like to get to the point where I can lift up with straight legs. Requires some core work I know. I've been doing crunches before class just to prep ya know? I need to do more crunches anyway.

4 comments:

Regina said...

Wow- that is so cool you were even able to do Crow for a few seconds! Yay for you! I have to be honest and say I don't do many headstands, but they have more to do with the fact that I have had a home practice for so long now and I just felt I would need actual hands on instruction to do the more advanced work and feel safe doing it. Having said that, I do feel like there should be as much weight put onto the arms and shoulders as opposed to the head to protect your neck- Yoga Journal says to put 90-95% of your weight on your arms and egs...
I'd really like to start experimenting with some of these kinds of inversions now that I am out practicing more in yoga studios- and again, it's very exciting about the crow pose!
Good luck!

Marilyn P. Sushi said...

90-95%???? I'm having trouble imaginging that actually happening. Maybe I need to energize my legs more for a lift. Crow poses I've been working on for years and it's the only arm balance I'm comfortable doing.

I encourage you to work on inversions. There's something very freeing about them and it feels soooo good to finally go up. All that fear and anxiety just melts away.

Regina said...

Thanks- I really want to do more now. I think your idea about energizing your legs is great, too.

Anonymous said...

My take on Sirsasana is that it's all about alignment. If the head and neck are perfectly aligned, then it won't feel like there's much pressure on the head or arms. However, most people aren't in alignment..or need to watch their own unique dimensions (ie: neck longer than arms, or arms longer than neck)..For me, I have a long neck, so I need to have height under or support under the arms so that my neck doesn't get crunched. I like doing a modified Sirsana with 2 chairs and my shoulders placed on either chair with head hanging freely in between them. That way I get inverted, but my neck doesn't have trouble. ;)