Yoga-beginners & advanced into 1

[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).