km1328

I love everything that Gabrielle said and have just a few words of my own to add.

As a teacher, I have long struggled with how to convince my students that this posture really is not about how low you go but how much you feel. Yet with that mirror in front of us it is so easy to look around at more bendy students and try to make their shape regardless of the form. It sounds like you understand that how important the form is- so kudos to you!

What I would like to suggest is that it may be time for you to relax and let go a bit in this posture. See if you can focus on the areas of the body that are soft and passive in the pose rather than all the stuff that is active and working- as that seems to be driving you a bit crazy and tiring you out! This is especially true in the back bend. While the back side of your body is contracting and working super hard, the whole front side of your body should be stretching ie: relaxing!

Draw your attention to the breath. The moment that it becomes choppy or held or strained you have gone too far. Especially at the start of class we want to strive to let the breath be as smooth and normal as possible.

I applaud your desire to find a clean form, now I encourage you to find the freedom within the form. :coolsmile: