The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Utkatasana › Part III: Struggling with coming back up to standing
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Utkatasana › Part III: Struggling with coming back up to standing
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This is one of my nemesis poses… which of course means I need it the most!
I really struggle with coming back up on the third part. I’m trying to squeeze my thighs and knees together, but it feels like I can’t get started on the slow elevator ride back up unless I use a little momentum and “push up” first– so there’s this small jerk in my body as I come back up. It feels like I’m cheating and that it can’t be good for my back.
Tips? Or is this just a matter of “keep working it and you’ll get stronger”?
Thanks everyone!
Hi Mary Beth
Welcome! Don’t be too concerned as it can be easier on some days and more difficult on others. It really is part of building strength and stamina and you do have to allow that process to occur. Having said that, there are things you can do.
It’s not just the strength in your legs and hips etc to get you up. It’s also in the way you are able to summon your core muscle strength. That is not just by sucking in your stomach. May I ask if you use your breath in any particular way?
And… it’s also in the way you descend. You have probably noticed that you may need to land with hips or upper legs resting on your lower legs. See if you can keep some space there.
So often people descend right down to rest on the legs and the hard bit is that first part of the ascent, to get yourself off from that ‘resting’ position. If you can control the descent you will find that it is easier to come back up.
Other elements of potential improvement: Make sure the shoulders are seated down and back and the arms continue to be active. Try to note where your back is and get back to me – what angle is your back, perpendicular, or leaning forward? A conscious intention to link all the elements together will – over time with practice – yield results. It’s not just one thing!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Well, I think I just got the price of admission’s worth with this answer– you are exactly right. I started practicing a year and a half ago and got into the habit of resting back on the heels as a massively struggling newbie just fighting to stay in the room. I never received specific correction on it, so I forgot how this part of the pose SHOULD look and continued doing it that way (guess I conveniently tuned out the “half-inch gap” part of the dialogue…) It’s like one of my instructors used to say– “Never hang out in the pose!” I was hanging out in this pose without even thinking about it!
Today I tried to create that space and holy crap– this pose is now MUCH more difficult to hold, but I see that resting back is partly at the root of the issue, and correcting this will have a “chain reaction correction” effect. I understand now, too, that a proper gap will strengthen my core, calves, and quads more effectively.
I also thought about where my back was during the rise and noted I was leaning forward to try to keep my balance due that that “upward jerk.”
Tomorrow I will see if exhaling while rising will help, as that did wonders for me when I was struggling with coming out of Toe Stand.
Excellent diagnosis, Doctor! Thank you!
You’re welcome Mary Beth
Don’t be too hard on yourself. There is a part of our logical self that ‘knows’ that if we rest at that spot it will be easier to come back up.
If you actually check into what’s happening with your muscles you realise that they are not working there. Because of that it is actually harder to come up. That’s why we have to lurch forward or bounce out. I wouldn’t go so far as to say you are ‘hanging out’ because sometimes you just don’t have the stamina to do anything else. There is a positive side to resting there and that is learning how to activate muscles to lift yourself up from there. And I have something for you to try:
When you are resting on your calves (if you happen to be 😉 ) then before the ascent, while everyone else is ‘bouncing’ (which I think actually needs a different focus, and so here it is …) summon your strength by activating your core muscles and ‘simply’ raise up off your calves so that you are sitting above your heels still without coming out. Basically, it’s a one way bounce without coming back down, and staying at the top of that first ‘bounce’. THEN, you will be more equipped to ascend.
Getting ready for the ascent you should check into your arms, shoulders and back and then your breath. Squeezing knees together is a given. One of the elements that is possibly taken for granted that is part of the pose is consciously pushing up through the toes.
DEFINITELY come up on an exhale. A steady one will help the activation of your core muscles. There are several techniques for that but just focus on the exhale.
Focusing on all elements of this while you are experimenting is very difficult. So one time focus on arms and back, another time toes and knees, and so on and so forth. Over time you’ll be able to do all elements together.
Can’t wait to hear how you go. Don’t be in a hurry for it all to happen to a schedule. Remember things change and can go either way depending on your mental and physical resilience, from day to day. Just be the observer and collect data (consciously or unconsciously).
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Thanks so much for your reply, Gabrielle. I can see that it will take a while for me to reshape my muscle memory and “unlearn” all those habits. I think what I will do is try to go down to where I can feel the muscles working but still come up properly, and then work on getting lower, for as you mentioned, there are many elements to keep track of here. Form before depth 🙂
This is what’s so terrific about this series! There’s SO MUCH going on and always something to work on– it’s the same postures but I never get bored 🙂
Hi Mary Beth
You could do it that way if you feel that’s the way to progress. Using that idea you could go all the way down for one set (either). The other set stop at that point where you know you can keep yourself from surrendering. That way you can have the best of both worlds. Your threshold (or hover point) will change and that’s what you can keep an eye on.
There is also merit in just going to the lowest position and learning how to summon the strength to rise up off your heels to set a hover point (no bouncing!). Whatever you decide, your job is to notice. I certainly wouldn’t be deciding never to get to that surrender point if it meant I only descended half way. In any case, stopping there is no guarantee that your body wouldn’t move forward to ascend. Do let me know how you travel! :cheese:
There ARE lessons to be learned at every point aren’t there? 😉
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Terrific advice on splitting the sets. I think I’ll try that road. Thanks so much!
Thank you MissBell for posing the question. And thank you Gabrielle for your expert advice! I have had no success with part 3 of this posture for the past 2 years (on and off practice) or so. Earlier today, upon reading how one should lift off the calves, while exhaling, I made a mental note and tried it this afternoon in class. I did it! Wow! What an awesome feeling! I knew that there was something I was missing by way of “how to.” Knowledge is indeed power :))
Thanks so much!
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