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| I can drop back into the pose, but lifting up seems absolutely impossible. In fact, I'm not even sure I understand what I should be attempting here, because it feels like most of the weight is being supported by my arms and, try as I might, I don't seem to be able to transfer it to my legs.
Tips? |
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Location: London, England | Hello,
The best way I've found in learning to drop back and rise from this pose is to find a steep slope, and stand on it facing away from the top. Because of the slope, it is much easier to keep your centre of gravity over the feet, so that lifting out of the pose is easier, but you are still learning exactly the right technique. It is not possible to use the wall for this purpose-it just doesn't work.
on the slope, the feet and hands are on the same level, whereas on the wall they are 90 degrees to each other, plus you don't get the added advantage of CoG (centre of gravity) control.
Have fun-this is a great way of learning this movement 
Nick |
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| its a lot harder when you have to work against gravity.
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i tried a few months ago, and ended up falling back and hitting my head on a wood floor.
OW!
had to get craniosacral therapy to clean that business up.
keep trying to get the weight into your legs.
you could try taking your hands onto a higher platform (chair seat, whatever) to get the actions to take the weight into your legs.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| The Erich Schiffman folks use something they call a bendy board - plywood with yoga mat glued to it. I was never able to completely visualize how it works, but the general idea is like using a slope. You can also work with a stable (very stable) chair or if you have access to the stackable aerobic steps, they can be a great prop, too. Good luck! |
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| This is a very advanced action and unless you are a young gymnast, very strong and very flexible, this should be approached with great caution and guidance from a good instructor. From my very limited experience with this maneuver, one must have extremely strong abs and front leg muscles to do this successfully. I too could easily drop back, but found it difficult and a little painful to lift back up. Because of this, I have decided to forgo back drops until I feel extremely comfortable just being in urdva dhanurasana repeatedly and for a long time (more than five breaths and more than three times). Although I agree with Nick, that using a steep slope is probably most advantageous, not everyone has access to such things and using a wall can help one adjust to rising back out of a partial drop which in turn allows one to slowly build the abdominal and leg strength while increasing back strength and flexibility.
Good luck and enjoy your practice!
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Location: London, England | Hi Carol, unless they live on the Nevada salt flats, don't most people have a slope? :-)
Nick |
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| Well, I don't have one that would make me feel comfortable doing a drop back independently anywhere near my home, just a few small grassy slopes. That's why I like the wall. After a workshop with Matthew Sweeney, I learned to add half drop backs with and without a wall into my practice. I find that both really work my quads and abs, although I still have a ton to work on. Sadly, when I was a young teen, I was able to drop back and rise up with abandon, not so now...
So what is your feeling on inserting some of the back bending asanas from the second series into one's practice? I find those asanas much easier to control. I especially find that ushtrasana gets me to more fully engage my legs.
Carol |
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| When you do Urdhva Dhanurasana try coming up on your toes and walking the hands in closer.
Once you can see your feet press your heels down. If this feels strong you might be ready to lift up.
Once you decide on lifting up there is no backing out. You go all or nothing. Your head should come up last, very slowly. Most people rush to look forward it throws off the balance.
Definitely use a teacher's help. Not just any teacher, but one who can do drop-backs, etc..
They will tell if you you can do this on your own. |
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Location: London, England | patient@44 - 2008-08-04 12:50 PM
Well, I don't have one that would make me feel comfortable doing a drop back independently anywhere near my home, just a few small grassy slopes. That's why I like the wall. After a workshop with Matthew Sweeney, I learned to add half drop backs with and without a wall into my practice. I find that both really work my quads and abs, although I still have a ton to work on. Sadly, when I was a young teen, I was able to drop back and rise up with abandon, not so now...
So what is your feeling on inserting some of the back bending asanas from the second series into one's practice? I find those asanas much easier to control. I especially find that ushtrasana gets me to more fully engage my legs.
Carol
Hi Carol,
Yes, it's a real endevour to drop back isn't it ? I reckon it's a great thing to add back bends to your practice-in my opinion, essential. The first major backbend in a first series class is urdvha dhanurasana, which is an incredibly difficult posture for many. Like you say, ustrasana is great for learning to rise from urdvha dhanurasana, as well as performing it, as are the next two poses.
Take care
Nick |
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Location: London, England | Hi Karmann,
You have a point-but in my experience, the stairs don't work that well-because of the bdy positioning, the wrists often have to hyper-extend-it's very difficult to land with the hands flat n the stair tread. Using a slope removes this problem by having the hands on the same plane as the feet. Using stairs often means that a student will try to do the drop back, or lift up, without the same hip extension as is necessary to do the movements well when on the floor.
I guess an ideal would be to have a machine that aided or abetted the movement, but an instructor might do the trick.
Nick |
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| Try practicing on a sandy beach. When you fall it doesnt hurt nearly as much and there is usually some sort of incline. This works great for handstands too!
If you are practicing in a studio, one trick is to have two people holding each side of a wooden dowel behind your back so that you can get the feeling of drop backs and returns.
Good luck! |
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| I can second what Nick said about the wrists hyperextending if you use stairs. I've been trying to learn to drop back and stand up on my own by whipping all the cushions off the lounge and dropping back onto that (horizontal) surface. I can do it, but I do feel quite a lot of pressure in the wrists (and mine are very flexible). Because of that, I've also been using the wall (also not ideal). It's a bit less scary, and I try to just hang back with arms extended, then touch lightly and come back up.
I also have the problem of not being able to feel the weight move in to my feet in UD - I try to do the rocking thing, but I just can't seem to shift anything to my feet.
Good luck, and if you find any magical solutions, be sure to let me know!
namaste,
lisa |
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Rising from Urdhva Dhanurasana
