The funny of Bhujapidasana

This is one of my favourite poses to teach. For no reason other than it's hilarious to try to get into it. Or, more hilarious to watch students try (and succeed) getting into it. I'm pretty sure that I get this semi-fiendish delight from my own yoga teacher. See, the way that I was taught to get into Bhujapidasana is by doing a funny walk backwards and forwards on your mat, whilst in a forward fold, your arms wrapped through your legs, and your hands holding onto the inside edges of your heels. Supposedly, this helps you to get your shoulders further behind your knees. Which helps to make the pose accessible/ way easier. It's also the same set up used to get into Tittibhasana; especially the version where your legs are pointing straight up to the sky =) (Yogis come up with some crazy stuff.)

 Some obvious limitations for this pose: hip flexibility, hamstring length (to some extent), arm length (hahahahaha t-Rex arms), and, very importantly, wrist flexibility. Also fear.

 The wrist flexibility is a big thing, actually. If you look at the angle of the wrists in this pose (and in many arm balances), the wrists are massively extended (even hyperextended). Students often complain of sore wrists when doing yoga, and especially when a class is focusing on arm balances. It's extremely important that we look after our wrists, and, in the same breath, look after your shoulders, too! I have some lovely (read: torturous) exercises to build 'wrist'strength, as well as some funky stretches to do. I'll probably share those in an upcoming post. Or you can just come to one of my classes ;)