Urdhva dhanurasana 2009 and 2020
Between these two pictures lies a decade of practicing yoga and also practicing urdhva dhanurasana.
The first picture was taken by a friend. I had not yet discovered the self-timer of the camera. I wanted to see if my back bending was so deep already that it was possible to come up. It took years till I could drop into this pose from a standing position. I learned this skill and lost it again.
The second picture is taken 2020 after recovering from this back injury (SI joint went crazy) that accompanied me for about two years. These days I practice more effectively. I hold the poses longer. I stretch different body parts isolated. I thing it’s visible that the pose improved. But it didn’t improve very much. I mean 11 years are a long time and the difference between these two pictures is not so huge. Perhaps I’m wrong, because the inner work that I do these days cannot be seen. But that’s how it is. Patience is needed and perhaps I’m just before a real breakthrough. Haha…… It’s not so important. I love this asana and I love to work on it. My understanding of this pose deepened. I learned how to stretch, how to become stronger.
I’ve other asanas in my library that show more development. Every pose is different.
This morning I held this pose again 1 minute. I was surprised when I heard the alarm of my timer. One minute became shorter already.