Yoga-beginners & advanced into 1

[shootingstar]

Just a few short lunch-time sessions I've signed up for yoga squeezed in work schedule.

I was a little amazed that the instructor was teaching some difficult maneouvres --handstands against wall, headstands against wall and a position which is crouching down on haunches like a frog and lifting one's whole set of legs and feet by sticking out your elbows. Last time I was able to do the latter...was when I was 13 yrs. old.

I mean...we have a mix of beginners and advanced folks.

Mind you, I find it easier to naturally crouch-near sit by sitting on my haunches, folding my legs and apart, dropping my bum but bum never touching floor. Probably because I'm small boned and short..... It's a position one sees in certain cultures in the developing world when "resting" instead of standing while waiting.

[indysteel]

I don't know that I agree that those poses are advanced. Crow pose (the last one you described) takes some core strength and some fearlessness, but there's no harm in trying it as a beginner. Headstand is very doable with some proper instruction (assuming the yogi is being spotted and/or is using a wall. Handstand's probably the hardest. I personally don't practice it because of my hands, but again, with proper instruction, it's doable.

For me, the irony with yoga is that the poses you're most likely to do from the start--down dog, up dog, mountain pose, to name just a few--are difficult to do correctly. Regardless, if you're honoring your body, it's possible to at least attempt most poses. You may not get very far into them, but that's okay.

[shootingstar]

Well, who can do the crow's position, headstand here?

[indysteel]

With a good teacher, I bet most of TE could at least try the poses, assuming no pre-existing injury. I've been in any number of classes where I've seen it happen. Will it be perfect? No, but few yoga poses are at the beginning. That's not to say the poses are easy. It's just that I don't think they're outside the reach of a beginner.

[OakLeaf]

I don't think crow is very hard. Headstand at the wall, either. I'd characterize myself as an "intermediate beginner" yogini ... generally fairly athletic, but fairly new to yoga and not very consistent about my practice, unfortunately.

Both poses take some confidence, as indy said. My wrist isn't back to trying crow since my face plant on the asphalt, so when I do get to try it next time, I may find that I'm a little bit more nervous than I was about staring down the mat at close range... Seriously, the first time I got into handstand at the wall, the teacher helped and held my legs and I literally shrieked as she eased me up. The next time, I went right up all by myself with a huge grin on my face. All about confidence and proprioception.

To get away from the wall with a headstand or especially handstand, you definitely need good core strength *and,* I think, the kind of proprioception that you can only develop by actually being upside down and figuring out where your legs and hips are when they're being supported by your spine and not the other way around. IOW, you have to do it to learn how to do it. There's a good description of where I am with yoga ... in a headstand, I can get both heels off the wall for no more than a few seconds at a time. Can't even begin to think about getting away from the wall in handstand. (Itching to have my wrist healed up enough to try.)


ETA - Good cuing (both verbal and touch) can go a VERY long way to developing proprioception. I've only really done yoga with very good teachers, Anusara-trained or certified (high emphasis on form).

[Crankin]

I couldn't do crow if I tried really hard. I can't even get my legs up off of the ground. Last time I could do that was in 5th grade.
When I was going to yoga regularly, I occasionally went to a class where we did the headstand against the wall. I think I remember doing it, but I just feel uncomfortable being in that position.
I have to agree with Shootingstar. I feel like those kinds of poses are more advanced. Since I practice at home now, I don't even attempt them.

[indysteel]

Like I said, there're not necessarily easy, but my guess--after countless yoga classes--is that for some, those poses are always going to be out of reach. It's not a question of where they are in their practice. For others, they'll be able to do them from day one. From a teacher's standpoint, some poses are worth teaching at all levels because students will never find out if they can do them unless they try. And there's no shame in trying and failing or falling short of some ideal.

I have been regularly practicing for almost 5 years now. I have a fairly strong practice, but regardless of what type of class I go to, there's inevitably at lease one pose that I can't do or can't do as well as I'd like. I spend little time ruminating on whether the pose was appropriate for that level of class or too "advanced." Rather, I merely accept that my body's not capable of that today. I do what I can; that's all any of us can do. Yoga, IMO, is as much about intention and effort as it as actualization and achievement.

If I can't do a particular pose, I either do something else or look around the class as others try it. In some of my advanced classes, we try some CRAZY arm balances, over 50 percent I'm not yet able to do. It's fun and inspiring, though, to watch others as they try.

I'm really not trying to be argumentative here. One of the things I've loved most about my yoga practice, though, is trying/doing things I never thought I could do and that were seemingly well beyond my 40+ year old body. The first time I did a full wheel (basically a backbend), I was utterly shocked. I'd never even been able to do them as a kid. So, I see a huge benefit to trying poses, even as a beginner, that are seemingly difficult. I've also learned that my body is not static. I could do things two years ago that I struggle with today because I was more fit, so my practice is a moving target. I like to allow enough room in my practice to be both surprised by, and forgiving with, my body.