Eagle pose

Hello racoll53

Thanks for being patient. We’ve been moving! So sorry because the answer is really simple! :cheese: I just didn’t have internet.

The problem you’ve been having with this pose has been that you’ve been a) following the recited instructions and b) influenced by other people that you can see directly or indirectly while you do this pose!

So, this quite clearly illustrates what I stand for: Clear instruction that fits the OUTCOME of the pose. Allow me to tell you where your studio practice has you struggling to do this pose, yet in your kitchen you can do it, beautifully!

Here’s what you do in class (a little abbreviated):

1> Inhale arms up. Swing arms into position.
2> You bend the legs and try to get as low as you can. You also try to get your body low and you lean forward.
3> You lift right leg to wrap over the left…

And here’s what you did in the kitchen:
1> You were probably standing near your bench and you bent your legs.
2> You probably just lifted the leg and wrapped and discovered you could get further than you can in class!

Haha!!! So what’s the difference? Is it really just that you didn’t wrap your arms?

The answer is no. It actually doesn’t have anything to do with the arms. And that’s GREAT news. Because you can repeat this success in class with the understanding that your pose success (with the wrap in particular, in this case) has EVERYTHING to do with understanding the OUTCOME of this pose and not following scripted instructions to the ‘T’ … because those instructions are misleading and are actually at loggerheads with the outcome … and present you with a couple of things that are ambiguous. That and the fact that most other people are unwittingly being misled and thus all making the mistake together. There’s a part of us that believes that everyone else must be doing it correctly so we tend to go along with the pack…

My philosophy is that a pose is not something you do only when you get it or are flexible enough to get it. A pose is what everyone does regardless of flexibility and how deeply they get into it. In other words, you set up a pose, you go into a pose and at every moment you are IN that pose exhibiting the exact behaviours and using the exact pose mechanisms that the experienced yogis are using. And the only difference will be that you go in less deeply (but you look just as good! because you’re doing it well). This is possible with every pose. If you, for example are wobbling or can’t stay in something such as Standing Bow, it’s because most likely, you are ‘charging forward’ and ‘bringing the body down’ faster than people who use the proper mechanisms in the body do to properly express that pose. That’s another story, but the short explanation of that is that when you actually perform the poses with the right instruction, taking into account body and pose mechanics commensurate with proper physiological expression, that the poses become instantly more easy and satisfying and you can FEEL your body working the right way. It is no longer about the way your body will look when you get into a pose, you can FEEL it working every single microsecond. You experienced that in the kitchen so let me give you specifics.

Alright, so let’s continue:

The difference is in point 2 of the first list (of 3) where you sit down and lean forward.

In the kitchen, being close to a bench or table you probably kept your body upright. (BTW full instructions with photographs are detailed in my Hot Yoga MasterClass manual for all poses and in all pose tutorials… and if you have my book then take a look at the Chapter for Eagle Pose in pages 102-107.)

What you did and have to do to have success in the pose, is to:

1> Keep feet flat, weighted evenly between both feet. Never, ever shift the weight from one leg to the other. Your body will do that naturally without major shifting of your hips and will do that unconsciously, just as it does when you walk or run or move!
2> Keep your head up, chin parallel to the ground, shoulders back (regular starting position for all standing poses) and bend the legs.
3> As you bend the legs, keep the body upright, head only moves downward in a vertical line. Allow your legs to bend, your lower back to arch so that your body is stable and your weight is still even over the feet.
4> Now simply lift the right leg and wrap it over the left. (Of course try the reverse, left over right).
5> When you’re in front of the mirror, your gauge will be this: Watch your head move down to a point when you bend your legs. If your head bobs up or moves from this position when you lift your leg up to wrap, then you’ve bent forward and need to start again.

Clearly you can do all this with your arms in the crossed position. So add that in too.

There you have it! A long explanation for something that will become an automatic expression of the pose and one whose principles you can apply to other poses. Poses are not endpoints. They are works-in-progress.

Please come back and tell me of your progress.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂