Poses >> Parsva Bakasana

1. Let's start this one in tadasana. Take a moment to imagine you have tuxedo stripes on your legs and move those stripes toward each other. So your legs are strongly relating in toward each other but without any feeling of congestion in the midline.
2. From here fold your palms in front of your chest, press your feet down and lift up on your toes. Stay up on your toes, heels lifted, as you bend your knees and lower down into a little low chair pose. In this squat variation you still are moving your legs together strongly and also let your inner ankles magnetize each other.
3. Inhale, and as you exhale, twist to the right. Lightly fall on to your palms getting a nice sense of weight on your arms. Organize the placement of your palms so the left baby finger is in line with the right baby toe. Your right hand is shoulder distance apart over to the right and both hands are at least 12 inches out from your body.
4. From here, lift your heels. Are your legs still squeezing together? This is a big twist so you also want to make sure your knees are pointing forward even though you have done a twist to the right.
5. Bend your elbows straight back like chadarunga arms and slide your left upper arm under your right thigh. Your right arm is over to the right and doesn't have any weight on it for this pose on this side.
6. Now, one thing at a time: First, shift your weight forward and just lift your left foot up off the floor. Feel what that is like.
7. Keep your head lifted up like you are getting your picture taken while you are doing this, which will help prevent you from falling on your face. You do have to shift your weight more forward than your comfort zone.
8. Then, shift your weight more forward and try to bring your right foot, the bottom foot up to meet the top foot. Now you’re up!
9. If you are afraid — and who isn't when they are learning this — place a pillow where you think your head would go if you fell so you have a crash pad.
10. If you are not having any success with this, then try doing it on a block. Yes, do that little squatting low chair pose right on a block but put your hands on the floor. This will make it easier for you to get your thigh up on your arm.
11. Is this about arm strength? Core strength? Leg strength? Yes, it is about all of that, but not one more than the other. It is a full body coordination and also requires looseness in the waist area — sides, back and front — to do that big twist. And it is also about weight distribution, not too much forward or back. That's why it is a called an arm balance, a balancing pose, even though it is also a twist. So keep working on it. You'll get it and then it is way fun.

Video and Text by Yogamates Featured Teacher: Cyndi Lee