How To: Parsva Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana

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Come here big toe
Come here big toe

Tips & Tricks

Keep both hips squared to the front. You can feel your hip socket to make sure your hips are square.

Try to keep the spine straight & shoulders sliding down your back.

If you are not able to straighten your leg just yet, do not push it. Move slowly & focus on keeping your standing leg rooted down & spine straight. Form over matter, so practice each step to your body's best ability.

Good rule of thumb: Your deepest part of the pose is dependent on your form, so to know how deep you can go, pay attention to where you can hold the pose with the best integrity.

Other variation: As you swing your leg to the left, you can turn your head to the right.

sun2
sun2

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How To: Bird of Paradise

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photo-4
photo-4

Tips & Tricks

  • When bringing your leg up move super slow so you can be hyper aware of your balance.
  • Do what you can! If you can't straighten your leg right away, no worries. Start with getting your foot off the ground. If you still feel good, bring your knee up to the side of your body & straighten your spine. Once you feel stable, slowly extend your leg as much as you can & hold your balance.
  • Your shoulders & spine will want to round forward, so tap into your core strength to help straighten the spine. Focus on lifting your chest up to bring the shoulders up & back as well. (*I find it helps to take a nice big inhale while doing this)
  • Keeping the standing leg straight is difficult in the beginning so be patient with this! As you build the strength & flexibility to hold the pose you will eventually be able to keep your standing leg strong & stabilized.
  • If you smile, it makes the pose way easier.