After another week of no yoga, I was determined yesterday to go to a class. It was mind-over-body, really, as I was not in good physical shape. Firstly, I had been working late nights and the night before this Saturday’s class, I slept past midnight. On top of that, we had a power outage at home (translation, no airconditioning) just as I was headed for bed and this lasted till 5:30 AM. Being a light sleeper, I never got to a deep sleep state. Yesterday, I also had a 9am-6pm marathon meeting at the office. A really bad combination of lack of sleep and fatigue for yoga.

But go I did.

We were only 3 in class, and the other 2 were regulars. So while my body was craving restorative yoga, our class turned out strenuous (at least for me). The worse thing was, while Pio was encouraging us to do the vinyasa flow from plank to chaturanga to upward dog, I just could not find the strength to do it. Every time I went down into chaturanga, trying to transition to upward dog, I would collapse.

It was frustrating as I could do this already months back. But I realize that I cannot expect my body to respond when I am not regularly practising and strengthening my arms. My physical state was showing through and revealing itself to me.

I am just thankful that Pio helped me out through my usually difficult asanas. Pigeon, for one, is still one of my difficulties and while other students have come to be able to raise both hands behind their ears in this pose, I remain unable to do so. Last night though, Pio supported my hands in that position and assisted me in deepening my forward bends. For this I am grateful.

Stephanie Brail gave some tips on her site for lower intensity variations and I think I will do these till I get my arm strength back:

1. Not holding the poses for that long.
2. Substituting a low cobra for upward dog.
3. Going to knees for plank.
4. Doing classical chaturanga, which has knees on the ground and butt somewhat up in the air with the face pressed down towards the floor.
5. Substituting child’s pose for downward dog.

I also found a Yoga Journal article that talks of Arms Control and gives some useful tips for those of you who, like me, need to get that arm power back (or if you still don’t have it, build it up).

For the triceps (found at the back of your upper arms and which are used for the Plank-Chaturanga-Upward Dog vinyasa), the article suggests using a chair (for those with weak upper arms) to practice the plank pose. In my case, as there is already some strength but not enough for the transitional moves, the article suggests frequent transitions from Downward Dog to Plank and vice versa, trying to lengthen the holding times in each position. Mini yoga push-ups from the Plank position are also recommended.

For the biceps, which are hardly ever used in yoga asanas, the article recommends light dumbbells ranging from 2-5 pounds. This exercise can be done even while seated behind a desk. Grasp a dumbbell in one hand with arm to one’s side, upper arm in same position. Bend at the elbow and bring your hand up to your shoulder. Do this several times, then alternate using the other arm. You can start with 10 repetitions, working up to about 3 or 4 sets of 10 reps each.

Now that we are on the topic of arm strength, watch this amazing set of YouTube videos featuring Ana Forrest’s demo at the last Yoga Journal Conference this 2007. Her arm power is absolutely out of this world!