How to get into headstand

Headstand can be learned in one session.

Here are the steps:

1. Proper preparation is everything. Take care that your elbows are not too far away from each other. My arms are almost parallel. This is very important.

2. Walk with your feet to your body. It’s not necessary to have straight legs. Finally the back should be parallel to the wall.. (Picture #1)

3. Bend one leg and bring it close to the body. Only one foot is the floor. The weight should be on the arms and not on that foot. (Picture #2)

4. Jump a tiny bit to bring both leg in the same position. The closer you walked the feet to the body the less you have to jump. It’s a tiny dynamic movement. (picture #3)

5. There are three possibilities to balance: The thumbs behind the head can press against the head. Breathe evenly. Engage the bandhas. Especially the last point gives a lot of stability. When no feet is on the floor the pose is mastered. Now only the legs must move upwards. This can be done very slowly. But that’s it.

People with high blood pressure should avoid this asana.

Sirsasana is an inversion and a balancing asana. Mastering this pose gives a lot of self-confidence.

For those who are interested in beauty: Headstand is a good face lift. :)

Headstand has a lot of positive effects on the body:

• It strengthens the core muscles

• Blood circulation improves

• It improves digestion and brain function

I think it makes sense to learn first shoulder stand, then headstand, then forearm stand and then handstand.

Challenges can be to try variations and to hold this asana longer. I learned from people who held the pose for one hour. For me 1 to 5 minutes are enough. In order to experience the above mentioned positive effects this pose must be held longer than 5 breaths. One should aim for 25 breaths minimum.

Headstand

People who don’t practice yoga usually combine yoga with lotus pose (padmasana) and headstand (sirsasana).

In Ashtanga yoga a headstand is part of the closing sequence. At the end of second series seven different forms of sirsasana are exercised.

Headstand can be learned in one session.

• In the movie ‘The breathing God’ one can watch how B.K.S. Iyengar teaches a man headstand. This man had never done yoga before, it was the film maker. He was able to get into headstand very quickly. Within 10 minutes or less this man got into headstand alone and he could hold it. Iyengar only told him what to do. There were no hands on adjustments. The situation was challenging as the student had a lot of viewers.

• I learned it in one session, too. Years ago I practiced with the Sivananda people. Sirsasana is the first asana out of the twelve basic ones in their system. They know how to teach it.

Usually yoga beginners have such a huge respect and even fear to get into headstand. It’s not necessary. It’s very unlikely that one falls out of this pose. I fell out perhaps twice within decades. Nothing happened. The folded hands behind the head prevent that one falls backwards. Nevertheless I always want to have space enough in front of me in case I fall. If one falls against a wall one might injure oneself.

The main two mistakes:

1. Most people who struggle with this pose have the elbows too far away from each other. My arms are almost parallel on the floor. The wrist press into the floor.

2. Never ever go to a wall!!!! Don’t do it. Fear will become worse. I’ve seen it so often.

There are many possibilities to get into the pose. It’s easier when the legs are bent, when moving into this asana. I’m glad that I can get into the pose with straight legs again, yet this is a bit more challenging.

1. step: Learn to get into a basic handstand.

2. step: Hold this asana longer, 5 minutes could be a doable goal. Self-confidence will grow.

3. step: Exercise variations.

In order to check if the body is parallel to the wall one must take a picture. The yoga poses feel differently than they look like. A picture tells the truth.

I plan to go to a Sivananda yoga class again, after so many years. I mean they taught me how to get into headstand. Perhaps they can teach me pincha mayurasana, too.

Useful yoga props: timer and wheel

Ashtanga yoga practitioners start the yoga week on Sundays with second series. Back bending is a focus.

How to practice smarter than during the last decade is often my question.

The timer:

One of the answers is that it makes sense to hold the difficult asanas longer than 5 breaths. Especially if an asanas seems difficult, progress might come faster when this asana is held longer. Repetitions are useful, too. It’s not always possible to get from 5 breaths to 1 minute. I breaths 15 times (inhaling and exhaling equals one breath) within a minute when I do nothing. I surely need more breaths when I’m in a challenging asana. It’s easier to wait for the peep of the timer than to count breaths. It’s distracting. To focus on the sound of the breath and to count the breaths are two different challenges.

It’s impossible to hold every asana of one of the Ashtanga yoga series for 1 minute. It’s too time-consuming and perhaps also not good for the body. My plan is to hold one back bending asana 1 minute, one forward bending asana for 1 minute, one twist for one minute. It’s a modest start, but a start.

This sounds easy. One minute is not long, but when in urdhva dhanurasana one minute can feel like an eternity. Today I left the pose before the peep of my timer. Two seconds only and I would have accomplished my goal.

There will come a moment when the discomfort seems to be unbearable. Then the mental task begins. Mantras might help to stay. ‘I can’ is a good mantra. Only 5 more breaths. Again one must learn to understand the messages of the body. Sometimes the pain is a message to get out of the pose if one doesn’t want to risk an injury. The goal is to relax more and more when performing an asana.

I guess it’s what runners told me: There comes a moment runners want to stop, yet when they get over this point, running happens almost from alone.

Another possibility to handle the discomfort is to move a tiny bit out of the pose till it becomes OK to stay.

Sometimes I want to get out of a pose, because I’m bored. This is often the case when I do headstand. Today I used the timer for this pose, too. One minute was doable and also enough. I would have left the pose earlier. The effect wouldn’t have been the same.

The wheel:

To start back bending on a wheel helps to relax. One can focus either on stretching the front of the hips or the upper back. It’s not just hanging over the wheel. I usually engage my legs. It prepares the body for deeper back bending asanas. Setting a timer can be useful, too. When in an asana I lose the feeling for time. The timer gives an orientation. The older a yogini is the longer it might take till the body gives up resistance. When the body feels safe, stretching can happen.

Timer and wheel are my helpers.

The plan for tomorrow:

I set a timer for 90 minutes. That’s how long I practice every day.

I set a timer for one minute when practicing paschimottanasana (forward fold), marichyasana C (twist), urdhva dhanurasana (back bending) and headstand (inversion).

Breaks make lazy.

Every yoga practice motivates me to practice again. Soon.

Patience

Whenever an asana works on stretching body parts it’s good advice to have patience. It takes time to stretch. Being overambitious causes injuries. Injuries are setbacks. Sometimes indicating an asana might be enough. It’s better to establish again a daily yoga routine than to force the body into a position that is too demanding. Especially after a break one must take it easy. It is disappointing to lose asanas. As in life there are ups and downs.

Knowing when to give 90 % and when not is something we learn over time. I wrote 90 % because we cannot give every day 100 %. I even read that sports people get to better results when they take it easy.

To hold an asana longer than only 5 breaths will help to advance relatively fast.

What is worth doing, is worth doing daily.

To practice daily is so much better, than to have long and intensive practices once in a while. This might sound banal, but it’s true.

Deepening the understanding of an asana

The above pose is called paschimottanasana and it’s the first pose of the middle part of Ashtanga yoga. There are four variations of this asana, with each asana one moves a bit deeper into the pose. When it’s possible to bind the hands in front of the feet, one can omit the other 3 variations.

Here are my questions in order to deepen the understanding of any asanas:

1. What sort of asana is it? Paschimottanasana is a forward bending asana. In this case it’s easy, but sometimes there are asanas which are a combination of forward bending and balancing i.e.. This asana stretches the back of the legs. To stretch the body takes usually longer than to learn an asana that requires the correct technique like sirsasana (headstand).

2. Are there easier variations? Paschimottanasana works mainly on the hip joint and on stretching the back of the legs. Knowing this one can come up with easier variations with the same goals.

3. Are there more challenging variations? These days it’s easy to google the variations. The student must decide which variation he/she likes to add to the practice.

4. Can I move the body 90 degree? Often an asana has the same form but is performed with a rotation of 90 degree. Instead of sitting, one can lie on the back with the same body position. This can make a huge difference. One can also stand and again the asana will feel totally differently.

5. What is the counter asana? Very often it’s upward facing dog in primary series of Ashtanga yoga. Yet for paschimottanasana the next asana works as a counter pose: It’s purvottanasana. A counter pose moves the body in the other direction, but not that intensively.

6. How to get into the asana and how to get out of the asana? In Ashtanga yoga this is called ‘vinyasa’. It’s the dynamic part. I prefer to work on the asanas than on the vinyasas. It’s surely good advice to give these two parts the same attention.

Picture 1 shows an easier variation, picture 2 shows a variation with a rotation of 180 degree, picture 3 shows a vinyasa exercise and picture 4 shows a counter pose.

No asana is a stand alone position. Around a single asanas are vinyasas and other asanas. There are counter poses and a lot of variations. Experimenting helps to make your yoga practice to your own practice.

Make your own experiences. Create your own stories. Enjoy.

Slightly overstretched

I’m slightly overstretched today. Perhaps also not so slightly, but overstretched. The back of my legs complain when I bow forward with straight legs. These injuries are inevitable if the breaks between practices are too long. My experience is that a break of more than three days or even a week or longer is too long. The mind still knows what was possible the last time when I practiced, yet the body adjusted already to another life style and got stiff.

During a practice it’s almost impossible to realize if one goes too far. The pain comes the next day or even later. It’s the same with sore muscles.

When I practiced daily I’ve been never overstretched. A daily practice is the solution if one want so avoid getting overstretched.

The next question is how to avoid breaks. My experience is that yoga must come first. Sometimes I have so much to do that I start working on these daily tasks first. Duties first, I think. But every task lasts longer than estimated. I accomplish a lot on those days when I postpone yoga. But often yoga is not only postponed but cancelled on those days when I switch my priorities. After lunch my stomach is too full for a practice and in the evening I’m often too tired.

What is more important than my health, my well-being? Nothing. This is why yoga must come first. The plan is to finish my practice before lunch time.

Of course exceptions exist: Serious injuries like my SI injury might require to stop practicing for a while. Sometimes other activities must get priority. Yoginis are flexible, aren’t they? To discuss every day what comes first is surely not a good idea. Just doing it without discussion is a trick to start practicing.

I’m looking forward to my practice today. Slowly I’ll bow forward. My body will tell me it’s limits of today.

Setting a timer

These days I set an end to my practice. Instead of planning to practice primary or second series or half primary and second series asanas, I set a timer. Not the contents, but the time limits my practice. This is somehow easier. Within 90 minutes one can do a lot. Quality over quantity! Might be that I extend the length of my practices again one day again, but right now it seems to be a perfect length. Today my mobile phone wrong when I had finished the back bending asanas. Extra exercises and my slow speed cause that 90 minutes is too short for a full second Ashtanga series. Who cares?

I observe what is possible on a given day. No matter if I felt stiff or weak or flexible and strong, I’m more than happy that I can do this practice.

When discomfort is felt, it’s a sigh that one touched limits. It gives the opportunity to go a tiny step further. It gives the opportunity to breathe and to relax to feel good at the rim of the possibility. Pain tolerance changes every day like everything else, too.

To practice 90 minutes without interruption tells me that my concentration is very good. It’s the illness of the time that people cannot focus anymore. The mobile phones distract most people. I even think that it has the potential to weaken our brain.

In yoga we care for our bodies, but we also take care of our mind. Being able to focus is a skill of the mind. It’s worth to exercise it.

A timer is a useful tool.

1. One can limit the practice without getting nervous about the time. Sometimes half an hour might be enough. The timer helps to allow me to focus within that time frame.

2. It’s a good idea to hold asanas longer than 5 breaths. To get an impulse from the outside is more effective than to tell oneself when to stop. Also here a timer can make sense. It’s easier to set a timer for 1 minute than to count 15 breaths.

3. One can also use a timer to focus i.e. 20 minutes on back bending within the 90 minutes.

I have to timer: my mobile phone and another one.

Getting an impulse from outside helps to free the mind from additional tasks. It intensifies the focus.

What else?

It’s carnival here, it’s the last day and it’s really funny to go downtown to see all the masks. We won’t have much time for carnival today. It’s also not really my circus. We don’t drink, we don’t masquerade, it is as if we just landed from another star. I had a highlight already: My yoga practice. Being a yogi is a life style, I experience this again and again.

Two poses that prepare the leg behind back poses

Marichyasana A is a pose that prepares leg behind head poses. The knee is already above or behind the back. Sometimes this is the pose I exercise when my body feels too stiff for these leg behind head poses. Important is to move forward and to bring the abdomen close to the leg. To bind is the next step. It can be useful to stretch forward and to bind the hands in front of the foot.

For me the asana in the second picture is a very nice preparation, too. I stretch the leg and I stretch the body. The hand gives support. It’s not all or nothing. Tiny steps in the right direction are sometimes the best advice in order to approach challenging asanas.

Of course I appreciate the day off today.

Might be that I do some asanas today or strength training. I will surely not practice Ashtanga yoga.

Leg behind back

Most asanas of the first Ashtanga yoga series are forward bending asana. It seems to me as if all these asanas shall prepare the body for one of the most difficult asanas of primary: supta kurmasana. Supta kurmasana is one of the four core asanas of primary. Most people struggle with this pose. Often this pose is not possible even after years of practice.

Supta kurmasana means to take both legs behind the back. Then one lowers the head to the floor. The arms bind behind the back. This is advanced.

There are approaches to supta kurmasana that are more reasonable than trying something again and again for years.

First one must be able to take one leg behind the head, before one tries to take both legs behind the head. This is a difference. This was the way I learned supta kurmasana. I had a flexible teacher who ‘allowed’ me to do second series even though I was not able to do supta kurmasana. Soon I learned to take one leg behind the head. After this interim step supta kurmasana was possible one day.

In order to adjust myself I put one leg behind my back while lying on the floor. That way my body can push my leg backwards. There is much less pressure on the neck. It allows me to stretch the body. After this exercise it becomes easier to sit in that position.

Each pose shall feel good finally. This feeling good experience is easier to get when on the back. It’s more relaxing than sitting. In the above pose the body pushes the leg to the ground. When in a sitting position, the leg pushes the neck forward.

It can make sense to hold this interim asana up to a minute. The body and mind need time to relax.

After this preparation pose I exercised eka pada sirsasana (see first picture). It allowed me to have my back rather straight.

I practiced primary. this morning. It was good to practice with an empty stomach before breakfast. During the last decade I have learned some asanas, surely. More important is that I learned how to learn these challenging asanas.

Self-study is recommended, but how?

• To hold an asana longer than 5 breaths can be useful.

• Finding similar, but easier asanas is very helpful

• To find out how one can adjust oneself can help a lot, too.

• To encourage oneself is also important. Yes, I can.

Today I still omitted supta kurmasana. I feel it already, it becomes possible again, soon.

I’m thankful for a challenging practice without back pain.

The spine

The spine has 24 vertebras. They are connected via joints. This is why we can move our body in different directions. The perfect construction of the spine allows this flexibility.

1. We can do inversions. When the head is below the heart we have an inversion pose. It feels as if one can create room.

2. We can bend backwards.

3. The spine allows to move the upper body sidewards.

4. Twists are possible.

5. We can also round the body and bow forward.

This is a lot. Most people don’t move the body in these different directions, even though the body allows to do it. One day the spine is stiff and not so many movements are possible anymore. Having limitations often comes with age, when people didn’t work on staying flexible. Yet this needn’t be the case. We can keep the spine flexible.

I always aim for a balanced practice. I don’t think that primary series of Ashtanga yoga is a balanced practice. 80% of the asanas are forward bending asanas. They aim at making the hip joint more flexible, but mainly in one direction: forward. The spine remains in it’s natural state. I have the feeling that all these forward bending asanas shall prepare the body for the leg behind head poses. I like these advanced asanas, but are they really important? I don’t think so. It’s more important to move the spine in different directions.

I often add a side stretch these days. I hold the twists longer than 5 breaths. I alter primary with second series.

Today I had to motivate myself to start practicing. As soon as I had done the first sun salutations I was concentrated and enjoyed the practice. The three sun salutations B were easier already than yesterday. Nevertheless my heart rate went up and I sweated a lot. After 90 minutes I was exhausted.

I did urdhva dhanurasana. After all these forward bending asanas it was a weak pose. It makes more sense to work on back bending asanas when I practice second series.

Getting stronger, becoming more flexible again is a journey that requires patience. There is no shortcut. It takes time.

Back bending

Today I was curious how the back bending asanas would look. They always feel intensive. What I realize is that I have a starting point that is motivating. Not everything is lost. The above pose was possible after many many repetitions. Today was my back bending day. Also my wheel helped me to get deeper and deeper into back bending poses. 90 minutes were over very fast. 90 minutes is enough. I try to fill this time with exercises that make sense. Quality over quantity.

The plan:

1. The classic exercise is to lift up and to hold urdhva dhanurasna for 5 breaths. Then one lowers the head to the floor. The hands walk to the feet. and again the arms stretch and lift the body into urdhva dhanurasana. I think this is a good start.

2. In order to get stronger one can lift up as often as possible. One can do 3 sets of this.

3. It can also be useful to aim for holding this pose for 1 minute. The body needs time to stretch. Last but not least urdhva dhanurasana is a pose that stretches the body backwards.

Urdhva dhanurasana is an asana that Ashtangis practice every day.

After the twists of the second series the time was over.

I was strong

I was strong. Focus is on ‘was’. Today I practiced primary. The plan was to do all the vinyasas. I’m too weak for this these days. I couldn’t even fake myself through this dynamic movement between the asanas. I’m relaxed. It will take some time to get stronger, but it’s possible.

Most important is that I can practice without back pain.

I was so much stronger than I’m now, but I was never strong enough for some poses. Strength training will help me to perform the vinyasas. It will make my practice easier. Today I reached my limits.

Last week I bought these grips. They shall support my effort to master the vinyasas one day. The first step is to lift myself up with straight legs and with crossed legs. To hold this position for 10 breaths is demanding. Then I can aim for swinging forwards and backwards……..

My practice must have priority again. All the other tasks that rise every day, don’t run away from me. They stick like glue. They don’t disappear in the evening like the sun. They can wait at least a bit.

Tomorrow I’ll focus on back bending again. I’m looking forward to my practice.

On Sundays my yoga week begins

So much went well today:

• I started my practice before breakfast. This allowed me to get deep into the twists. The breakfast after an intensive practice tastes also better. It feels as if it#s deserved.

• Today I was able to do 5 sun salutations A and 3 sun salutations B. Yoga in general doesn’t cover everything. The cardiovascular system doesn’t get trained very well. Only during the sun salutations and during back bending asanas my heart is challenged. My fitbit watch told me this. So to get back to 8 sun salutations felt good. My back does allow to do sun salutations B these days.

• 90 minutes I practiced one asana after the other. I linked them with vinyasas. This is a challenge in concentration.

These days I wonder how I can learn the asanas more effectively. Practice and all is coming, sounds easy and nice, but it’s not very useful. One must practice correctly. The didactic is neglected in the community. This is why I want to focus on my blog on this topic.

A useful advice is that if an asana is difficult, it makes sense to hold this asana longer than 5 breaths. It can be helpful to repeat the asana up to 3 times. Additional asanas might be helpful, too.

I repeated ustrasana 3 times. It didn’t feel so good as it used to. Each time it got easier. I had also put a block between my ankles to have resistance when engaging the legs. The knees move inwardly.

Amazing how optimistic I’m after each practice. Nevertheless the break was good. My back needed it. My practice is now pain free. It took me more then 2 years to feel healed at least 98 %. Sometimes when I pick something up from the floor, a sudden pain arises. It disappears fast.

My injury brought me back to practice alone. At home I can take care of myself and I can adjust the practice to my needs.

The happiness pill

It was the early afternoon when I started with the first sun salutations. Very soon I knew that it would be a great practice. This is not important if a practice is intensive or not. But important is to practice. I admit before I stepped on the mat I had exhausted myself with cleaning the kitchen. An inner voice protested. Don’t exhaust yourself with daily chores. Exhaust yourself with a yoga practice. Thought and done.

Almost 90 minutes I was on the mat and practiced primary. Today I even pushed me into urdhva dhanurasana. This is a gift from heaven that I’m able to do this again. Thank you.

When I walked to the fruit and vegetable dealer round the corner, I felt so exhilarated that I swore to practice tomorrow again. I felt so stable and also so protected. This practice grounds me.

Happy New Year

Bye Bye 2018

Obstacles on the path

This morning I got up at 7 am. The alarm clock woke me up. It was so cold in the hotel room. Even after the shower and the hot coffee I felt icy. I couldn’t convince myself to put on yoga clothes. They are all designed for hot yoga schools and hot mornings in India. It became warmer and warmer during the day. It was too late for my practice.

One of the main reasons why I skip a yoga practice is the cold. It’s too cold in here I often think. I cannot stretch. I shiver. I also fear to injure myself when it’s so cold. In addition the body is stiff then.

I consider to buy clothes that might keep me warm when I practice on cold days. Not all asanas might be possible with thick and warm clothes, but I could at least do some not so intensive stretches and strength training..

Utkatasana

The next asana of the standing sequence of Ashtanga yoga is utkatasana. It’s more or less a strength exercise for the legs and the abdomen. This pose can invite to do squats. I focus on the exit. In order to get stronger I hold the poses shown in the pictures as long as I can. It’s exhausting. The muscle must burn if one wants to get stronger. If nothing is felt, nothing happens.

All poses can be done sloppily. With time I understood why I exercise a certain asana. It allowed me to work especially on these aspects. For me utkatasana is a strength exercise, especially the vinyasa, the exit.

Yesterday I didn’t practice. I was too busy with other activities. At least I accomplished something. In addition I was slightly overstretched. I cursed. The right side of my hips hurt. Not all the time, but a tiny wrong movement and I realized that I had done too much. The front side of the body hurt when I walked it hurt when I stood. The difficulties with stretching are that you feel the next day when you did too much and not when you’re stretching. Overnight my body repaired the damage. I’m 99 % OK again. Today no splits! I must realize that I got older. My body needs more time to recover from intensive exercises. Daily practice becomes more and more important. To practice safely, without injuries is goal #1.

Padmasana variations

Quick summary:

Half lotus pose gets introduced in the standing asanas (ardha baddha padmottanasana). In the middle part of primary come 2 poses with full lotus pose. Garbha pindasana has a dynamic phase and a static phase. The pose ends with Kukkutasana which has also a balancing aspect.

My topic these days is didactic. How can I learn an asana faster and safer. What are the tiny steps towards the end form. Do I need more flexibility or strength? Have I understood the technique to perform an asana? These are the questions. It makes sense to move from easier variations to more difficult ones. Easier variations always exist. Another reason for knowing easier variations is that it can happen that an asana is no more possible because of injuries. Instead of omitting an important asana, easier variation can do the job.

First I analyse the asana: Garbha pindasana requires to do lotus pose. It’s also a forward bending asana.

This is exactly what I did. I put my legs in lotus pose and bent forward. Gravity helps. When bending forward it’s important to stretch first. It helps to create length. The movement starts from the hips.

The second variations uses the arms as a leverage. This pose should be applied with much care. The shoulders are very sensitive joints.

The third variation is usually recommended in classes as an interim step toward garbha pindasana. It has a balancing aspect. In order to hold the pose it’s good advice to engage the hip muscles. The arms shall not do all the work.

The forth pictures is the most relaxing one. Lying on the back is always relaxing. With the arms one can support the movement. Finally a pose shall feel good.

Experimenting with variations deepens the understanding of the asanas.

It’s Tuesday today. I focus on back bending.

Padmasana and the Ashtanga yoga series

Each of the four Ashtanga yoga series has in the middle part an asana sequence with padmasana.

1. Series: Garbha pindasana and kukkutasana

2. Series: Supta vajrasana (a static part and a dynamic part)

3. Series: Kukkutasana A, B and C (three different vinyasas)

4. Series: Punga Kukkutasana (very demanding)

My light bulb moment yesterday:

In the first series we have padmasana combined with forward bending.

In the second series we have padmasana combined with back banding.

In the third series we have padmasana combined with arm balancing.

In the forth series we have padmasana combined with arm balancing and twisting.

The combination padmasana with inversion is covered in the closing sequence. This is perfect!

With this analyses it’s possible to find similar variations that might be a bit easier at first than the given asana. One can approach any asana slowly, step by step.

Many yoginis struggle with garbha pindasana. When a yogini is able to sit comfortably in lotus pose the pose is almost mastered. The rest is technique. I’ll write about this later.

The asana of the second series requires usually help from another person. I had a teacher who allowed other yoginis to adjust. Another teacher didn’t like this at all. Not many fellow yoginis could adjust in a way that the adjustment was a support. At home one has no teacher at all. So what to do. I used to sit in padmasana, arms crossed behind the back. I held my toes and took 5 deep breaths. That was it. With my new analysis I’d do an asana with padmasana combined with back bending. There are a lot of variations.

Urdhva kukkutasana is an arm balance asana. The differences between A, B and C refer to the vinyasas. The not dynamic part is always the same. In order to move into this asana I did headstand with the hands flat on the floor. Then I crossed the legs into padmasana and lowered them. When they touched the arms I lifted the body, I stretched my arms. I lost so much strength that I’m not able to lift my body these days. That’s why I show above a picture from 2013.

I never practiced punga kukkutasana. Once I tried it, but I’m miles away from this twist. Easier variation can be integrated in the first series, so that the body gets prepared for the future.

In one of my next pose I’ll show variations of asanas with padmasana……..there are a lot variations.

I’m ready now for primary.