has anyone got any tips for getting into this posture? i keep trying but it is just not happening, i know it will come eventually. Are my legs resting on my arms when i take feet from floor??
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crow
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 kempi |
crow |
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Posts: 18 (04/15/03 21:33:40) |
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KFN |
Re: crow | ||
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Posts: 4643 (04/15/03 22:15:02) Moderator |
I usually come into it by getting the knees set on the backs of the upper arms, then just tip forward gently to the balance point. It's a good idea to have a mat or blanket in front of you in case of a crash landing. Another way to come in to the pose is to start in a tripod headstand with the knees on the backs of the arms, then just gently tip down to the balance point -- that's a little less scary since you are moving your face away from the floor, but maybe a little harder to control & hit the balance. It's fun to play with!
karen |
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spangled |
Re: crow | ||
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Posts: 2295 (04/16/03 01:55:58) Barkeep |
The knees should be right at the top of the upper arm, or alongside the armpits.
There seem to be two options. Either the weight is directly on the knee, which rests on the back of the upper arm (this variation means you can straighten the whole arm), or the upper shin rests on the back of the upper arm so the knee comes out sideways a little. The second one is much easier, and if you come up on tip-toes the balance point should be very close. Practice being on tip-toes until you get a feel for it. The second, easier, version is nice to alternate with malasana (squat) with hands in namaste - elbows pushing knees apart. Karen, how about prasarita padottanasana > tripod headstand > bakasana (crow) > tripod headstand > prasarita padottanasana > horse (always good to get right-way-up again) The grown ups can do all those side crow + eight angle things... |
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Zoebird |
Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 383 (04/16/03 03:50:26) |
in most of my classes, it's not strength or even allignment that stops people from getting into this pose--it's lack of faith!
 many of the students spend a lot of time looking at their feet, trying to get their feet off the floor. By looking up and having faith, they usually come off. I find that the easiest way to get into this is to stick your but into the air. So, from standing. press your palms into the floor shoulder distance apart. then, pend the elbows straight back (slightly) and come up onto your toes. bend your knees and put them on the upper arm/tricep/armpit. Your butt should be way up in the air. Now, look forward and have faith! I promise--faith works! then, |
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Erich A Schiffmann |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 948 (04/16/03 08:19:26) |
Butt up, then head up, then lean...
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gayathree |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 20 (04/16/03 09:34:36) |
I have detailed a series of steps, which helped me to
get into the crow. You may look up my website at voth.hec.utah.edu/~gayath...poses.html for tips on crow pose. Gayathri |
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 lightdancer |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 10851 (04/16/03 11:22:19) Asst. Administrator |
Yes, lean and keep looking forward, not down. Keep leaning slowly until you can maybe lift the big toe of one foot. Just one toe! Hang out there and get used to the balance. Don't rush. After some time, maybe weeks or months, your foot will lift off the floor, with the other one still on the floor. Get comfortable a while with the balance there. Eventually, both feel will lift off the floor, just from leaning into the pose and finding the balance. I think most people are in a rush to get both feet off the floor first. The trick is to keep leaning and find the balance.
Carie |
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spangled |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 2295 (04/16/03 14:44:15) Barkeep |
I was first told to end up touching the big toes together in the final pose (this is the easier version) and for some reason that always helped me balance. Kind of knowing where everything is.
And yes (lightdancer) just one toe is how I learned too. Its one of those things that once you've done it is then not a problem. |
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Lillylulu |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 3568 (04/17/03 09:13:08) |
I learned crow thru a dream. For some reason I couldn't do crow, especially the modification. The dream was something like this: I was in crow and someone was hovering around me talking to me, but I was so completely focused nothing could move me out of the pose. Then I even started getting angry at the person and not even this silly anger moved me off the pose. I had complete balance: physical and mental. Nothing from the outside or the inside (my anger) had any influence. It was awe inspiring. I woke up and remembered the whole thing. I knew it was about something more than getting into crow.
That very day I did crow. It is now one of my favorites. The dream made me realize it wasn't just doing a physical pose. I caught the "essence" of the pose for me: Nothing has power to move us off our center. I realized that this could be done with all poses. Still working on this. Leslie |
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Shakti Das |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 9729 (04/17/03 10:15:16) |
Beautiful story, Leslie. Thank you for sharing it!
Jai Ma! Don'e |
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drrona |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 14464 (04/17/03 11:10:02) Asst. Administrator |
leslie lillylulu,
that's very neat and insightfull thanks  love,rona |
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debinpitt |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 71 (04/17/03 17:41:44) |
Just one more tip to add to all this great advice. I went through a phase where I could do crow, and then a period of about 6 months where I just could not balance for the life of me.
 I went to my teacher and said, "Help me!!" Her response, which made all the difference, was when your at the point where your knees are on your upper arms and toes are touching the floor, EXTEND the spine out and lift chest up, instead of collapsing chest down. (very similiar to advice of looking up) It made a world of difference..just a different way of thinking about the pose.... Deb |
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yogasmile |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 50 (04/19/03 05:04:00) |
I can't wait to try these helpful cues out with my class, we have been working on crow for a while now and there are still some students who seem just plain stuck, maybe some of this will be the words that open the pose to them.
A number of them complain about the pain of the shins/knees on the upper arms, any tips to lessen this discomfort? Yogasmile |
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Shakti Das |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 9729 (04/19/03 10:25:32) |
That was excellent Deb, thanks. Ysmile, maybe encouraging them to find the lifting energy of handstand while softening the front groins may help? In other words at first the knees on the upper arms help get th einitial phase ofthe pose, but laterthe weight of the knees on the arms is minimal as strenth and openness are developed around the pose.
Donny |
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yogasmile |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 50 (04/21/03 07:19:51) |
Thanks Donny, the thing is, they use the pain as an excuse to really not try and get into the pose at all. Perhaps I will encourage them to go ahead and try so we can see if applying 'lifting energy' helps to lessen the pain for them.
Yogasmile |
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Shakti Das |
Re: Faith, not Feet! | ||
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Posts: 9729 (04/21/03 08:08:38) |
Ysmile,
Forgot who said it previously here, the uddiyana bandha lifting from the navel straight back toward the spine is a nice subtle energetic dynamic in crow. If there is pain and soreness in the upper arms, it may indicate that they could use a shiatsu or chi gong type massage (they usually get into those areas). As you know there usually is not "excessive" weight placed by the knees on the upper arms. At first (I know this is not PC) have those who have difficulty to place the knees just above the bent elbows. Let the elbows be bent until they get the feeling of the pose. I learned it at first with bent elbows and knees just above them (the elbows serving as a ledge). Also doing crow just for one second, builds up the prerequisite musculature for the next time. A lot of benefit can be gotten even in half a second! Some guys bull tehir way into crow right the first time because of upper body strength but their alignment may be such that it causes too much rounding at the shoulders and back. They can be encouraged to keep the torso and spine long/lenghtened from the perineum. Lotsa variations here with the legs. Ahh make the pose light as feather! Love it! Donny |
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kempi |
Re: crow | ||
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Posts: 18 (04/23/03 05:02:12) |
Thankyou all for the advice. Today i mananged to lift my feet for all of 3 seconds
 .wooooopeeeeee.
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Susan Gansz |
Re: crow | ||
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Posts: 3896 (04/23/03 05:08:15) |
Excellent...weren't those 3 seconds some kind of exhilirating 3 seconds though?
 Susan |
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Unregistered(d) |
Re: crow | ||
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Posts: 0 (04/23/03 06:05:37) |
Yahoo kempi
 Did you fall forward into the pillow or back to your feet kempi? David
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YogaDancer |
Re: crow | ||
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Posts: 314 (04/23/03 07:20:33) |
I love this pose!!!!
I see I've worked through all the suggestions here, during my development in the asana. I used to start with my arms deeply bent, to get the "shelf" to put my knees on. Looking up is all the difference, just like in Chaturanga Dandasana! That head weigs 12 heavy pounds! After awhile, I begain to walk in closer, up onto my toes, which straightened my arms and permitted my knees to come up higher into my pits. Then, I realized I'd lost my bandhas in it one day, pulled them in and WOOSH! My chest lifted, my spine straightened along with my arms, my body became lighter and balance was not even a factor. I was just THERE. I love this asana. Christine |
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kempi |
Re: crow | ||
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Posts: 18 (04/23/03 07:35:40) |
I fell forward onto the pillow David, does that mean I am doing it correctly?
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- Questions on using this board
- Introductions -- Why You Came to Yoga
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- Amazing asana sequences
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- Breath of Life
- Meditation
- Remembering to Ask for Guidance
- Energy
- Classical Texts (Sutras, Gita, etc.)
- Yamas and Niyamas
- The Business of Yoga
- Teaching Questions
- Video, book, and audio recomendations
- Workshops and Training Opportunities
- MIS Goods & Services Exchange
- Technology
- Yoga Poetry
- Martial Arts, Gymnastics, Hypnosis, Contortionism, Body Building, & Other Related Disciplines
- Everyday Sacred
- Food & Recipes
- The Environment
- Socrates Bar and Grill
