Twelve Days of Yoga: On the 4th day

“On the 4th day of yoga, my guru gave to me…

4 flying crows
3 om’ing om oms
2 turtle poses
and a hanuman in a coconut tree.“

Oh!  I didn’t get a chance to upload this blog yesterday however I’m happy to report that my time was used wisely… taught a class, lunch, and a trip to the candy store.  Yep, it was the closest to a “day off” since the opening of the studio.  The kiddos and I built gingerbread homes out of graham crackers, royal icing, and candy:

gingerbreadhouse

 

Then it was off to dinner with my fabulous teachers followed by a night out with adults in non yoga clothes.  Woohoo!!  But yoga was on my mind… of course.  If it weren’t raining, I would’ve busted out my flying crow pose in the street. I guess I still could’ve have, but I didn’t want to face plant in the puddles

For the 4th day of yoga, my guru gave to me… 4 flying crows.  What’s flying crow pose?  I don’t think there’s such a thing, but I made it up.  We practiced eka pada bakasana… one legged crow.  To me it looks like a flying crow.

eka pada bakasana

 

I promise to make a “How To” video on this soon… but for the meantime, this pose is the crow variation and not the crane variation.  The difference is in crow pose, the knees are usually closer to the elbows and the elbows are bent.  In crane pose, the knees are as high as possible closer to the outer upper arms or armpits and the arms are fully straight.  So in eka pada bakasana, the knee is right above the elbow bone and the elbows are bent.  

I think this is king of all arm balances. It’s definitely the hardest one because of it’s asymmetrical  shape.  All the weight is on one side.  It requires an extreme amount of focus, strength, and patience.  

Digest this for now and I’ll be back with the “How To” video that will break it down in stages for you to build on.

 

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