So good to have an online yoga community. Around the globe yoginis practice urdhva dhanurasana on Wednesdays and unite on Instagram under the hashtag #wheeleverywednesday.

Urdhva dhanurasana is the first really deep back banding asana of the Ashtanga yoga series. It comes after the middle part of each series. Right now I focus on the static part of it. To drop back scares me again. I also think that my legs are too far away from my hands in order to drop back safely.. I work on holding this pose longer and longer and I work on walking the hands to the feet. I also love to exercise variations of this asana i.e. to lift one leg up to the sky. Each moment counts.

One can break down any asana into three skills: flexibility, strength and technique. One also needs the faith and self-confidence that something is possible. This develops over time.

1. To hold the pose longer betters the flexibility.

2. To lift up into the pose again and again, perhaps 10 times in a row and three sets develops strength. It’s a good idea to start with less repetitions.

3. Deep breathing is part of a correct technique. The legs should be parallel. Important is to engage the core muscles.

I exercise splits every day. This stretches the hip flexors and allows to get deeper into the pose.

I’m curious what will be possible today?