My yoga progress so far…
Read about the progress I have made so far in 2012 where mastering 10 difficult yoga poses are concerned.
This year I set out to master 10 difficult yoga poses. I have been practicing yoga for 4 months and a half now, so have decided to record my progress so far.
1. Chaturanga Dandasana (four limbed staff pose) – mastered
This was one of the most challenging poses when I first started practicing yoga. My abs were weak, my arms were weak, my entire body was weak. So not surprisingly, it took a while to master this yoga pose. After 4 months, I’m much stronger. Needless to say, I can tick this one off as mastered. This pose requires a strong core (abs and back) and strong arms (mostly triceps).
2. Tolasana (scales pose) – mastered
This pose is another abdominal killer, so you need a strong core to perform it. Scales pose also took me a while to master. And while I cannot do it in lotus, because of an old injury to my right knee that prevents it from bending too much, I can do the scales pose and hold it for a couple of seconds. I am still working on getting my knees higher towards my chest. Nonetheles, this one can also be marked as completed.
3. Navasana (boat pose) – mastered
Boat pose is a favorite of mine, especially now that I’ve mastered it. In the beginning, it was very challenging to not only straighten my legs and put my hands behind my neck, but also balance on my butt. These days I have no issues with balance or keeping my legs straight and have even started doing variations on this pose to make it a bit more challenging for my abs. This pose is overall a terrific ab toner.
4. Lolasana (pendant pose)
5. Urdhva Dandasana (upward staff posture) – mastered
6. Salamba Sirsasana (tripod pose) – mastered
7. Pincha Mayurasana (elbow balance)
8. Adho Mukha Vrksasana (full arm balance)
9. Bakasana (crane posture)
10. Eka Hasta Bhujasana (one hand over arm balance)
Why do yoga?
Learn why I do yoga and what benefits it offers me.
When people hear the word yoga, they generally get images of people with eyes closed, paying attention to their breathing and trying to relax.
While you can use yoga as a way to relax and de-stress your body, I got into yoga as a way to increase strength without having to go to a gym and lift weights.
Yoga is the perfect activity to increase strength and balance in the body as a whole by using only your own body weight. You do not need anything else but a yoga mat, some time, and dedication to reap the benefits of yoga.
While weight training tends to increase dynamic strength, yoga tends to increase both static and dynamic strength.
There aren’t many bodybuilders who can do the pendant pose in yoga, since it requires a delicate balance in strength between muscles all over your body. Bodybuilders tend to focus on size; yoga focuses on achieving balance throughout the entire body.
Yoga is also a way to gain control over your own body and connect your body with your mind. For example, if your are having problems or are worried about something, it will be hard to find balance in the yoga poses that require balance.
To find balance, you first have to empty your mind and then perform the yoga poses. This is why yoga can help you find peace; not only in your body, but also in your mind.
There are different types of yoga and people do yoga for different purposes. I do yoga to get strong, get control over my body, and find balance.
It is a truly wonderful feeling when your mind and body can work together in harmony. That is what yoga does for me.
How to do the four limbed staff pose in yoga (chaturanga dandasana)
Read about the steps I took to try to learn to master the four limbed staff pose, and follow my progress as I share my successes.
The four limbed staff pose or chaturanga dandasana is a pose that is extremely challenging for beginners, since it requires strength in your arms, shoulders, and abs.
You can find the description of this and all other yoga pose in the Yoga Bible.
Tips for building strength to perform this pose
- Increase strength in your triceps by doing the arm pressure balance, inclined plane posture, and one hand over arm balance.
- Increase strength in your shoulders by doing the headstand.
- Increase strength in your abs by doing the plank pose, boat pose, the extended leg fish pose, and double leg raises.
Note that you do not have to be able to perform any of the poses mentioned above perfectly. You just have to perform them partly or entirely if you can. As you practise and do them daily, your body will automatically become stronger, and eventually you will be able to perform the poses correctly, but also do the four limbed staff pose.
The beginning
I started doing the four limbed staff pose from the very moment I started doing yoga, since it is part of the sun salutation.
While I did not practise this pose every single day, multiple times, as I generally do for poses that I want to master, the muscles that are required to do this pose were being worked by doing other poses that target the arms and abs.
It took me approximately 1 month to build up enough strength to be able to lift my entire body off the ground for longer than 1 second.
Jan 12, 2012
While I was able to lift my body off the ground from the very beginning, it came at the price of holding my breath during the pose.
Today I managed to finally perform 5 breaths while doing the four limbed staff pose.
How to do the elbow balance in yoga
Read about the steps I took to try to learn to master the elbow balance, and follow my progress as I share my successes.
The elbow balance is an inversion, which requires flexibility in the shoulders, strength in the shoulders and arms, and which stretches the abdominals.
Jan 10, 2012: The beginning
Today I started trying to master the elbow balance by first doing a headstand and then lifting up from the headstand into the elbow balance.
While the lift was successful, I’m still having difficulty finding balance, so will be working on that in the next few days or weeks.
Jan 29, 2012: Started finding balance
After practising the elbow balance every single day for the past weeks, I finally started finding balance this week and in particular today, when I was able to hold the pose for a few seconds.
Can you lose weight doing yoga?
Learn whether and how yoga can help you lose weight.
Yoga is a form of exercise, so it can be used to lose weight. However, losing weight – or more precisely body fat – is all about expending more calories than you consume.
So while you can use yoga to lose weight, you should combine it with a good diet and nutrition to be able to get the full benefit of reducing your body fat, since yoga is not the best exercise to lose weight.
Running can be considered one of the best exercises to lose weight and burns many more calories than yoga. For example, a person who weighs 71 kg (157 lbs) would expend approximately 132 calories doing 30 minutes of yoga, while that same individual would expend 288 calories by running for half an hour.
Having said this, running typically targets the lower body and the muscles of your core, while yoga generally targets the entire body. In addition, you can build strength and flexibility doing yoga, while you would have to add stretching and weight training to your running schedule to build the same.
So while yoga is perfect for building strength, flexibility, and balance using nothing else but your own body weight and a yoga mat, do not expect miracles from it where losing weight is concerned. If you want to lose weight, you need to combine yoga with a balanced diet that is not high in calories.
Many yoga practitioners tend to be thin, but often times this thinness is not the result of the yoga itself, but from the things they eat and/or their metabolism. You do not have to be thin to do yoga; however, thinness does help you do yoga postures that require you to make your body very compact.
In addition, because several yoga poses require you to lift your own body weight, the heavier you are, the more difficult it will be for you to do these exercises. The other side of the coin is that you will have to build a tremendous amount of strength to be able to lift your own body weight, and as you get lighter, so will the exercises.
In summary: Combine your daily yoga practice with a good diet, and you should be able to lose weight. Not at the pace as you would if you went out for a run 3-4 times a week, but you will eventually get there and the result will be a leaner, stronger, and more toned body than you would have otherwise achieved by only running.
How to do the one hand over arm balance in yoga
Read about the steps I took to try to learn to master the one hand over arm balance, and follow my progress as I share my successes.
The one hand over arm balance is an extremely challenging yoga posture, since it requires strength in your arms and shoulders, and also a lot of strength in your abs (especially the side abs).
You can find the description of this yoga posture in the Yoga Bible.
The beginning
I’ve been trying to master this pose for almost one month now without much success (until today). The one hand over arm balance is a posture I practise every day at the end of my yoga session.
While it is fairly easy to lift your butt off the ground, it is more challenging to lift one leg and keep it off the ground.
Jan 7, 2012: Managed lift off
Today I was able to lift my legs off the ground for one second. The key was to tuck my tailbone under and flex the abs at the side of the leg that should be raised off the ground.
Lifting the legs off the ground not only requires abdominal strength, but also strength in your quadriceps. So to train my quads, I’ve been doing forward leg raises while standing (or seated) and trying to keep my torso upright. I try to hold each leg up for at least 5 breaths or longer if I can.
To do these leg raises, you must:
- Stand upright in mountain pose.
- Raise your left leg straight up in front of you until it makes a 45-90 degree angle with the ground.
- Tuck your tailbone under by contracting the lower abs.
- Contract your left abs like you are doing a side crunch.
- Hold the movement for 5-10 breaths.
- Repeat the same sequence on the other side.
Jan 18, 2012: Bent-leg variation
Because I’m still very stiff in my hamstrings, so have difficulty straightening my legs, I decided to try a different variation of this pose that would allow me to work on the balance required to hold the pose.
In this variation, you bend the leg that is in front of you slightly and enough, so that you can lift your entire body off the ground.
Once lifted, try to find and maintain balance, and after a while try to straighten the leg that is in front of you.
By doing this, I found out that I have enough strength to lift my body off the ground, and that my balance is pretty good. Now I just have to work on getting my leg to be straight and then lifting off the ground with a straight leg.
How to do the headstand (sirsasana) in yoga
Read about the steps I took to try to learn to master the headstand, and follow my progress as I share my successes.
The headstand is one of those poses that really tend to revitalize you after a stressful day. But it is also a very frightening pose to do, since you can break your neck.
I was able to perform the headstand within a week’s time of practice without perfect form or balance, which I am still working on. I generally go through the yoga sequence of postures listed in: Yoga routine to relieve upper back tension.
Before you attempt this pose, ensure that your shoulders and triceps are strong enough to support you, and do not place most of your body weight on your head.
About 80-90% of your body weight should be supported by your shoulders and arms in the beginning. And as you gain strength in your neck and back, your head can take over afterwards.
The beginning
When I first managed to do this pose, my traps (inner upper back muscles) were sore for a day. After that, I got no soreness at all.
The difficult part as a beginner is raising your legs. To make it easier on yourself, practise raising your legs with bent knees at first, and then once you have mastered the lift with bent knees, start trying to lift up with straight legs.
Note that you will require flexibility in your hamstrings to be able to do a straight-leg lift. In addition, you will also have to counteract the lift by moving your hips backwards to counteract the straight legs and achieve balance as you raise the legs.
Practise near a wall at first, so that you don’t fall back. Once you have achieved total control over the pose as you lift and find your balance, you can try the pose away from a wall.
Jan 7, 2012: Found balance immediately after lifting legs
Today I managed to find my balance immediately after lifting my legs into the headstand in all of my attempts.
However, I am still practicing this posture near a wall, since I still tend to lose my balance at times, especially when I practise breathing while in the headstand.
While I have also already successfully lifted into the pose with straight legs, my current primary concern is to find balance, so I’m currently bending my knees while I lift them.
I’m also still quite stiff in my hamstrings, so am doing other poses to loosen up that area.
The headstand is a good pose to transition into the upward staff posture. I’ve also already successfully performed this pose, but again, because of tight hamstrings have not been able to entirely straighten my legs yet.
Jan 19, 2012: Headstand from a V-stance
Today I tried going up into headstand from a V-stance, that is, with my legs wide and straight apart, and was successful in not only lifting up but also immediately finding balance.
I’m feeling more and more comfortable doing the headstand now, which is why I also attempted to do the tripod pose for the very first time today.
After mastering the headstand (and finding balance), the tripod pose should not be a problem for you. I was able to do the tripod pose as if I had been practising it for weeks with perfect form and also immediately finding balance after lifting up.
How to master the pendant pose (lolasana)
Read about the steps I took to try to learn to master the pendant pose, and follow my progress as I share my successes.
The pendant pose is a yoga posture that requires quite a bit of strength in your entire body. You can find a description of the pendant pose in the Yoga Bible.
Muscles of the back, abdominals, shoulders, and triceps must work in harmony to be able to lift your body weight off the ground and have it swing between your arms like a pendant on a necklace.
Needless to say, this is a very difficult posture to master, especially if you have weak arms and a weak core.
The beginning
Approximately two weeks ago I started working on building up strength to master the pendant pose.
Because I was unable to tuck my knees in and get them close enough to my chest, I decided to use yoga blocks to try to build strength in my arms, abdominal muscles, shoulders, and back.
The yoga blocks I used were high enough to allow me to practise lifting myself up using my shoulders and lats, and squeezing my chest, but low enough that my feet still touched the ground, so forced me to practise lifting my knees up to my chest to increase strength in my abs.
Jan 6, 2012: Lifted toes off the ground
Today I finally managed to lift my toes off the ground for two seconds. The next step will be to increase the amount of seconds I keep my toes off the ground, to try pulling my knees closer to my chest, and to start regulating my breathing so that the movement becomes more comfortable.
My upper body is still very much in a vertical position at this point, so I will have to increase the strength in my lats and abs to be able to rock my body backwards.
Jan 7, 2012: Lowered blocks
I decided to lower the blocks I’ve been using to practise the pendant pose and build strength to perform the pose, and I was still able to get my feet off the ground, so my abdominal strength is continuing to increase.
Jan 15, 2012: Incorporated forward leans
As a way to strengthen my shoulders a bit more and get the upper back strength I need to perform the pendant pose, I started to perform forward leans.
This exercise involves kneeling down on the floor, placing your hands shoulder-width apart, and then leaning forward while keeping your arms straight. Your natural instinct will be to keep yourself from falling over on your face; this should activate your shoulder muscles and upper back muscles to keep you from falling.
Jan 16, 2012: Started rocking back and forth
The forward leans have been targeting the lats (lattisimus dorsi) a lot, so I should see strength increase in that area of the back soon.
Today I started rocking back and forth. However, I’m still on the blocks and not on the floor, since I do not have enough strength yet to lift my torso up horizontally to the ground and/or lift my knees high enough up to my chest. So I will continue working on these two points.
Jan 19, 2012: Can hold torso horizontally
Today I was able to hold my torso horizontally to the ground for about 1 second. Yes, I know; that’s not long. But that 1 second feels like an eternity to my shoulders, upper back, and lats. I reckon they’ll get stronger soon!
Still working on pulling my knees up to my chest and making my body more compact.
Jan 29, 2012: Making slow progress, but abs got stronger
While my progress doing the pendant pose is slow, practising it does seem to have strengthened other parts of my body, and in particular my abs.
Because of this, I am currently able to do the full boat pose, although I still require more flexibility in my hamstrings to be able to fully straighten my legs.
In addition, I can now also do the scales pose, although I have to do a variation of it, since I do not yet currently have enough flexibility to do it in lotus.
Yoga routine to relieve upper back tension
Use this yoga routine to build strength in the neck muscles, upper back muscles, and triceps, in addition to improving flexibility in the hamstrings and overall balance as you stand on your head.
The following yoga routine builds strength in the neck muscles, upper back muscles, and triceps. It also increases flexibility in the hamstrings and requires balance as you stand on your head.
All in all, this yoga routine is very relaxing and revitalizing when performed with proper breathing.
You can find a description of how to perform all of the following yoga exercises in the Yoga Bible.
1. Headstand (Sirsasana)
The headstand is a very relaxing exercise especially if you practise it with good breathing.
However, you must ensure that you have good strength in your shoulders and triceps (back of your arms) before you attempt it, so that those muscles can help support the weight on your head and the pressure on your neck muscles.
You may also feel the muscles in your upper back (especially the trapezius muscles) work hard in your first attempts to master this posture.
2. Upward Staff Posture (Urdhva Dandasana)
The upward staff posture is great to lower yourself into when coming out of the headstand. It requires abdominal strength and flexibility in the hamstrings (back of the legs) to keep your legs straight at a 90 degree angle with the upper body.
3. Extended Child Pose (Utthita Balasana)
The extended child pose gives you a nice stretch in the upper back and shoulders while you are relaxing after you come out of the headstand.
4. Child Pose (Balasana)
The child pose like the extended child pose is very relaxing and also gives you a good stretch in the upper back muscles and neck.
5. Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
You can use the downward facing dog pose to get up out of the child pose in preparation to do the deep forward fold. The downward facing dog pose gives you a good stretch in the hamstrings and shoulders.
6. Deep Forward Fold (Uttanasana)
The deep forward fold stretches the hamstrings and spine, but also expands the shoulder blades and stretches the back of the neck, which really feels good after using those muscles to do the headstand.
7. Neck Releases
As a final exercise you can do some neck releases to the side to completely loosen up and relax the muscles of the neck.