Filed under: Digital Asana Project
Sometimes, especially in flow-style classes, you may hear your yoga teacher say something like “Step back or jump back to Chaturanga.” There are many to do this, of course, and it’s obviously not a good idea to jump back to Chaturanga if you can’t do Chaturanga all that well to begin with. Once you are strong in Chaturanga, though, it can be a fun addition to your practice to start jumping into Chaturanga during the flow.
In this video, I’m demonstrating the most advanced way of jumping back into Chaturanga.
1) I make sure to plant my hands firmly into the mat. For me, this means that I need to bend my knees quite a bit.
2) I start to transfer more weight into my hands.
3) With a little hop, I leave my feet and transfer all the weight into my hands. To soften the impact, I allow my elbows to bend here.
4) With my shoulders over my wrists, I allow my hips to float up into the air, and then I extend my legs out. I hold in this position for a few breaths (thus, “Flying or Floating Chaturanga”) before lowering down into traditional Chaturanga.
Disclaimer: I am not a certified yoga instructor, and the ideas and opinions expressed here are not intended to be formal instruction on yoga poses. If you plan to start up a yoga practice, or if you have one and plan to do any of the yoga poses described in this blog, please seek out an experienced, living, breathing yoga teacher to guide you with hands-on instruction.
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That’s cool as hell.
Comment by Guest February 20, 2008 @ 5:51 pmwhy are you in a department store?
Comment by matt February 20, 2008 @ 10:06 pmOh yeah. I should have mentioned, in this video, I’m in a store because I was doing a yoga demo as part of a promotional event for some new yoga program. No, I don’t normally roll out my yoga mat and start doing poses in the middle of department stores
Comment by ekachakra February 21, 2008 @ 3:49 pmAh yes. The tip about bending knees, and getting shoulders over the wrist is very helpful. Am still working on strengthening upper body and core, and hope and practice that I will one day ‘float’.
Comment by iamspidermonkey February 21, 2008 @ 9:36 pmGreat advice as always. I’ve been trying to jump silently to chaturanga and coming close. This advice and video should hopefully inspire me to *float* to chaturanga. Thanks!
As a side note, anyone have advice on shirts that are inversion friendly? My tight ones bunch up across my chest when I put my arms back down to my sides. The loose ones fall to my armpits when inverted and somehow magically stay there when I right myself. No shirt is my preference, but it is cold here right now in the midwest.
Comment by Glacial Moraine February 23, 2008 @ 11:00 pm