As promised, I want to share with you the really MAJOR asana poses that I struggle with at every class. While I delight in the other poses that now come more easily, these are the ones I really and truly dread. The Yoga Journal, in one of their articles some months back, wrote that oftentimes, the poses that you hate are the ones you need. I want to believe that statement so much. So, despite my body groaning and aching every time I try these poses, I am praying that sometime in the future, I can scratch some or all of these off my “killer” list and add them to my “no-brainer” one.

Monkey Pose Now THIS is the ultimate killer. In ballet, we call it the split. And it is a bit frustrating now because this was a pose I easily did before. Now, it is near impossible to bring the groin area anywhere closer to the floor than 6 inches! Claudine shared with me that working out on a pilates machine would loosen up my frozen hip flexors. Now WHERE can I get my hands on a pilates machine?????

Pigeon Pose This pose is the predecessor of the Monkey Pose. Bending one leg in front, with the other leg stretched out at back is fine. Until Pio tells us to stretch both arms up and BEHIND our ears. Hello???? My arms can only go up but in front of my face! Somehow, my lower back locks itself stiff so bending backwards in that position and bringing the arms behind the ears is an impossibility. Not for some of my yogini-mates (we call them “aliens”) who do this pose as though they were missing some bones at the back. My idol, who does this so easily, is Priya (one of the yoga companions of Pio). Priya does the pose as shown here with such ease and grace!

Wheel Pose Again, this was a ballet stance I easily did as a kid. Where, oh where is that flexibility now? Just trying an easier pose like Camel takes 200% effort! Patience, patience!

Crane Pose We tried this maybe once or twice in class and I was fascinated by it. It does require strong arms as it will bear the entire body weight so I am working on my Chaturangas (4-Limbed Staff Pose) as often as I can in order to tone and strengthen my arms. I did get my feet off the ground for, at most, 2 seconds but more work needed to get that forward dip in just the right place to strike an equilibrium and allow the body to balance on both arms.

(picture taken from Yoga Journal — www.yogajournal.com)