What's stopping your Bakasana B?
Bakasana B can be an intimidating prospect when working through the Second Series of the Ashtanga yoga sequence. Many times students say, “but I can’t jump!” or “I can’t land!” So, what exactly is stopping you from successfully landing on the backs of your arms in this position?
In this Wellness Wednesday video, I offer several different ways you can learn to successfully jump and land on the backs of your arms in Bakasana B.
There are four important things you must find:
Courage - This will give you the confidence to jump and get your hips up and feet off the floor
Trust - This will help you land successfully on the backs of your arms. You will need to trust that you have the capacity to hold yourself as you land.
Strength - This needs to be both physically and also energetically. Make sure your arms are strong, and then find your inner Uddiyana “flying upward” Bandha, by engaging the lower abdomen, to create lightness through the pelvis.
Determination - This will keep you going, and give you the willpower to continue trying again and again, even when it seems impossible.
“Bakasana” is a position named after the "Crane." The crane is a long-legged and long-necked bird with a streamlined body and large rounded wings. This posture in the Intermediate Series is to be eventually performed with straight arms and feet together, resembling the image of it’s namesake. The B position resembles a bird in in flight!
Allegedly, the first Sanskrit verse ever uttered by the great sage Valmiki was inspired when he witnessed the death of crane.
It is said that the sage observed a hunter shoot and kill the male of a couple of mating cranes one day, while he was relaxing by a river. Observing the depth of grief and the forlorn female crying over the death of her mate, Valmiki cursed the hunter proclaiming in Sanskrit:
“You will find no rest for the long years of eternity, for you have killed a bird in love and unsuspecting.”
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Now it’s your turn!
What of these four factors is stopping you from successfully landing your Bakasana B posture?
Leave a comment below, letting me know if you’ve realized what exactly was stopping you from finding flight or landing with confidence!
Do you love Bakasana B or could you live without having to face your fear of flight or rather face your crash-landing?
