How I finally got into Side Crow after years of falling flat on my face

April 7, 2023 0 Comments

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I used to spend a lot of time in yoga classes falling flat on my face. As a former competitive athlete, I didn’t think of yoga as just another thing to win for a long time, especially when it comes to challenging poses. When I was in college, I tried to try difficult hand balances and inversions every chance I got. Yes, I was that yoga student.

I eventually scaled back my attempts, instead focusing on creating one particular pose in my practice. Last year it finally nailed Crow Pose. And this year I decided on Side Crow, which I finally got around to for the first time last week thanks to a tip from one of my favorite teachers, Chris Stanley. When I finally got up I was shocked. (Jack Workman’s hilarious Instagram Reel on the subject immediately resonated as I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed my achievement.) I was… doing it.

Everything changed for me when I focused on lifting my hips—and twisting—instead of focusing on forward motion. This is something Yoga Journal Senior Editor Renee Schettler also reminded me of. “Sometimes what’s holding us back has nothing to do with arm balance,” she told me. “Instead, it’s the ability to enter an intense turn. Before you can position your body to use your elbows for support, you need to be able to rotate your upper body to the point where you can find the basic Side Crow form.”

Fully. As I continue to work on my Side Crow (it’s far from perfect at this point, and I’m totally okay with that), I’ve been looking at our content that revolves around the twists and arm strength required to maintain these Chaturangas. weapons”.

I have to admit, I had my sights set on Baby Crow too.

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