DOING - NOW DEMO'ING - URDHVA DHANURASANA

As many know, urdhva dhanurasana (wheel pose or full backbend) eluded me in my yoga practice for the first 12 years. It wasn't until this September 2010, when I discovered the importance of skull loop/hyoid bone/taking the head back in this pose, that it became a pose I could consistently move into.

Until then, I had placed myself in position, done all I thought was correct, then pushed with every muscle fiber of my arms -- to no avail. I was going nowhere. Why? Because I wasn't using my head (literally). Once I took my head back, using skull loop and the hyoid bone, my shoulder blades became involved and helped to lift me away from the floor. So, my friends, I learned it isn't a pressing up altogether, it's a combination of factors -- one of the most important for consistency, being the 'lift' from the shoulder blades. (ALSO, I am sure every one of my teachers had told me about the head; it's just that I didn't 'hear' it until 3 months ago.)

Now, urdhva dhanurasana - for me - is in the refinement stages (which may last another 12 or more years).

Last night, I attended Tiffany Wood's class in Park City. She gave us fair warning at the start of class -- we were moving towards backbends; all the while focusing on the breath and it's impact on our ability to be grounded in our poses. A new concept for me -- my breath, its movement into the pelvis, and - voila - a more open urdhva!?!?!?.

We moved slowly through our poses -- long holds and slow movement do NOT mean an easy class. If anything, I think it's easier to move quickly, allowing momentum to carry me through poses. In a class like this, moving slowly and mindfully is challenging and sweat-producing. We opened shoulders, lengthened quadricep muscles, worked the rest of the body as we paid attention to the grounding our breath can help us achieve.

Then came the backbend -- first a bridge pose, then urdhva on our own, then a demo. What lucky person was smack dab in the middle of the room, primed for visibility? You guessed it - me. I've been asked to demo this pose once before in the same studio -- JF in the seat of the teacher. That was a couple years ago, when the pose was much less reliable. Result? I did it - barely - and then only because of the power of grace, I'm sure of it. Last night, after Tiffany paid me a very gracious and flattering compliment, I placed hands, waited, lifted hips, waited, moved to top of head, waited, then pushed up. With a little encouragement from Tiff, the arms got straighter and the heart moved, but not before she asked me to soften through the pelvis - to breathe. More opening.

Two more backbends on our own (that makes 4 in a row), each time focusing on maintaining a soft quality to the pelvis. As I did the 4th, I was aware that I had moved further into the pose than any time before - actually holding it long enough to pump the heart away from the hips several times, opening the pose up a bit.

Interesting that this pose, as difficult as it's been for me, now serves as a great learning tool. Each time I am asked or choose to push up, I notice more. Not big things, little things. Things like I can hold it a bit longer each time; my arms are straighter; I can wait and move into the pose more slowly, instead of a big umph up into the pose, as I've been doing in the past several months (notice all the times I wrote 'waited' in my demo description; there was a reason for that); and the power of two places I'd never thought of for backbending -- my head and my soft pelvis. Wow!

Today's Plan:

• Wayne's class, 9:30 am, at The Yoga Center Interim Space - 2101 Murray Holladay Rd.
• Noon Pilates with Cindy
• More yoga -- Sheldon's 7:15 pm class -- same place as Wayne's

Kickin' it up a notch! Have a great Tuesday