WARRIOR 3 OR VIRABHADRASANA III POSE

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We're checking in with warrior 3 or virabhadrasana III pose in class at the moment. It's one of those postures that looks deceptively simple, but because it involves standing on one leg it's often hard for students to stay in position long enough to think about their alignment. There's a couple of things going on in the top picture here that I generally cue my students to correct. The first is that I'm not using my back muscles enough to keep my torso lifted, so my chest has kind of drifted towards the floor and I've lost the natural inward curve in my lower back. The second, which would probs be easier to spot if you could see my top foot (it's been chopped off by a combo of having a small space to practise in/ small camera width/ long leg 😂) is that in an effort to lift my top leg higher I've let that side of my pelvis lift. You can see it if you look closely! If you could see my toes they'd be pointing towards the camera rather than down to the floor. My right hip is turning out and is higher than my left, so there's a slight twist in my back, and for me it also makes it harder to balance. 
In the second photo I'm not thinking about how high I can lift my leg, and instead have dropped my right (top leg) outer hip way down. My toes are now pointing straight down to the floor. To help correct the position of my upper body I have fired up the muscles along my back to lift my chest higher. My preference is to keep my chest slightly higher than my hips in this posture. There are so many chances to stretch the back of your body in the style of yoga I teach that it's good to take the opportunity to strengthen that area when it comes up! Reaching your arms back will make it much easier to lift your chest. Once you feel like you're comfortable in that position, you can make your back muscles work harder by keeping your chest lifted while either having your hands in prayer position, reaching them out to the side or even stretching your arms out in front of you 💪🏼

HALF MOON POSE OR ARDHA CHANDRASANA

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We've been having a look at half moon pose or ardha chandrasana recently. Despite appearing relatively simple there's quite a lot going on in this posture: balance to stand on one leg; hip strength to lift the top leg; core strength to keep your torso lifted; flexibility to be able to turn your top toes out and reach the floor with your bottom hand.... the list goes on. My regular students know that I'm very keen on using props if they can help you get more from a pose, and this is one of those postures that a block can often really help with.

To get into half moon pose start with your legs in a warrior 2 stance (if you're not sure what that looks like, have a look here). If that, or any of the following steps don't work for your body: back off. If not, and if your right leg is in front (which it is for me in the photos above):

• step your left foot towards your right to shorten your stride
• take your left hand on to your left hip, and your right fingertips to the floor a decent step in front of your right little toe
• shift your weight on to your front (ie right) leg, so much that your back leg can lift
• keep your standing leg bent a little as you stack your left hip on top of your right. Lift your top leg and turn it out so that your toes are pointing out to the side rather than to the floor
• turn your chest up to the ceiling and draw your top shoulder back
• straighten your bottom leg
• lift your top arm straight up, with palm facing the same way as your chest
• depending on how it feels on your neck: look down to the floor, out to the side or up towards your top hand.

In the top photo above I'm demoing a (perhaps slightly exaggerated - but not much!) version of this posture that people can find themselves in when they first give it a try. Notice how in an effort to get my bottom hand to the floor I've had to turn my chest and top shoulder down to the floor. This in turn makes it difficult to stack my top hip on top of my bottom hip, and therefore also to lift my top leg. In the bottom photo above, I'm using a block to bring the floor a little towards me. It's helped me keep my chest from turning down to the floor, and therefore also to stack my hips on top of each other and get more lift in my back leg. 

I'm not sure why some people don't like to use props. Maybe they think it means they aren't as good at yoga, or as the other people in the room who aren't using a block? I use them all the time, and am happy to use anything to hand that'll help me get more from my yoga practice. Why struggle without a prop if one can transform the effect a posture has on your body? Anyway, that's just my personal view. You can judge for yourself from the photos whether you think my half moon pose looks like it feels better with or without a little extra lift under my bottom hand!

Flying pigeon pose or eka pada galavasana

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I posted the photo at the top of this page - of flying pigeon or eka pada galavasana - on my Instagram recently. And then had a few requests for tips on how to actually get into it.... Sorry guys- that's what I should have done first time round! Anyway, here's my five steps for working towards getting that back foot off the floor in this posture. Before you begin warm up the outside of your hips with thread the needle or pigeon prep pose, and make sure your arms will be able to support your weight by checking you've got a solid chaturanga dandasana/ low plank position (see my earlier post on chaturanga if you're unsure!). And back off if anything (especially your top knee) hurts.

1. Take your weight on to your right foot, lift your left leg and flex that foot (ie draw your toes back towards your shin). Place the outside of your left ankle above your right knee. Bend your standing leg a little and start to move your hips back. Hands in prayer (photo 1) 

2.  Sit lower by bending your standing knee and moving your hips back. Keep your top foot flexed. If the stretch in your top hip starts to get too intense stop where you are. Otherwise move towards touching your forearms to your top shin. Stopping whenever you need to, work towards bringing fingertips on to the floor (photo 2) 

3. Flex your left foot around your right arm, so that your toes kind of wrap around the outside of your upper arm. Bring your hands flat on to the floor. Work your arms underneath your top leg until your shin is in your armpits (photo 3)

4. Move your hands a step forwards. Draw your shoulders down your back, keep your elbows in by your sides and grip the floor with your fingertips. Start to take more weight on your hands (photo 4)

5. Keep moving your weight forwards until your back foot gets so light it can lift. You may find you need to play with shifting your weight back and forth from hands to foot for a while to get used to it before you can lift your foot. Look forwards, not down! (photo 5) 

Then once you've mastered each of these steps, the next stage is to start straightening your top leg towards the full posture (see here if you're not sure what that looks like). Repeat on the other side ✨