Favourite pose / nemesis pose?

[CeaseAndDesist]

I've been regularly practicing yoga now for almost a year and absolutely love it. I still consider myself a complete beginner though and as if I'm only at the very start of a lifetime journey, so I'm trying not to get too hung up on stuff that I 'can't do' right now.

I've learned a LOT about my body - mainly that I have more flexibility than I thought but a lot less strength, particularly my core strength which is pretty much non-existent.

My absolute nemesis pose at the moment is chaturanga dandasana - I just can't do it without collapsing into an untidy heap on the mat. Same goes for any sort of arm balance - I am determined to get into a crow one day but it's a long way off!

But on a positive note, I can do a lovely bound cow-face, could happily fall asleep in fire-log pose and my wild thing is coming along nicely.

What's your favourite pose and which one do you try and skip in class?

I have a small sweat towel I put under my hands when things start to get slippery which works fine for me

I love the feeling of getting into wild thing from downward dog - weeeeee! That one is my favourite.

I really don’t love pigeon - my hips are pretty tight and it doesn’t feel too great. Needs a block for me.

I do think that you miss out a lot though if you only learn at home and not with a teacher. It's worth finding a local beginners course if you can with a teacher who can answer your questions and correct you. This will help with good alignment, getting the right modifications and reducing the chance of injuries.

Completely. I go to my local studio twice a week, once for a group Ashtanga class but also for a Mysore, which is where everyone gets on with their own practice & the teacher goes round giving advice - such as the tip on looking down a bit when balancing. It makes a HUGE difference.

I do an online class one evening a week too, for variety, that has a bit of everything. It's great & the teacher is lovely, but being in the room is so much better!

@Spudlet, me too - I am slightly addicted to downward-dog-to-wild-thing now.

I have days when pigeon really works for me, and days when it's like, ooof. My left hip is a lot tighter than my right!

I completely agree that there's no substitute for face-to-face teaching - there's definitely a place for apps and Zoom classes but nothing beats the vibe of a good studio class. I missed it so much during lockdown and am so pleased to be back in the studio. I would go every day if I could, tbh.

Oh, the other thing I hate is trying to gracefully step through to a lunge from down dog. I can sometimes manage to fling my right leg through to the top of the mat, but not my left, and most of the time I can do neither

Oh, the other thing I hate is trying to gracefully step through to a lunge from down dog. I can sometimes manage to fling my right leg through to the top of the mat, but not my left, and most of the time I can do neither

I move my foot forward on the outside of my arms. I know it’s not correct. Don’t care.

I've been working on flying pigeon for two years. That's my favourite as I can now do it easily.

I hate the splits. I just do child's pose when that comes up in class.

As Nemesis was the Greek goddess of Balance (amongst other things) you've just asked what our favourite yoga balance-poses are. sorry

I've been off yoga for a while as I have a dreadful pregnancy related injury but I used to practice every day and my family own a studio so I talk yoga non stop!

I'm hypermobile so I always enjoyed things like butterfly, pigeon and King pigeon, fire log (hated frog! My hips open the other way). I loved all the poses in moon salutations and a mandela flow side to side across the mat. Wheel and drop backs were my favourite pose. And I love binds!

I used to really struggle with arm balances. I have long legs and I always found it hard to get in position. It took me two years to be able to do a proper chaturanga (daily press ups to get there). I really don't enjoy Inversions

It's amazing how different everyone is!

I'm working round some lower back issues so have to avoid backward bends other than what I have dubbed "cobra in the egg". But that's hopefully temporary. Cow legs has always been a total non starter for me.

I love one legged pigeon and enjoy being able to bring my foot through from downward dog to lunge as this is a new ability!

@elfycat

As Nemesis was the Greek goddess of Balance (amongst other things) you've just asked what our favourite yoga balance-poses are. sorry

Ha, I didn't know that @elfycat

Right, I've been sitting at this desk since 7am, so I'm off to stretch myself in a lovely wide-legged forward fold and maybe a wild thing or two...

I agree that chaturanga is v hard... don't give up! I am working on it still, now in class i do chaturanga just with my knees on the floor.

Favourite pose - wild thing!
Nemesis pose - revolved warrior ... those big spinal twists :s

Nemesis poses: crow & headstand

Favourites: reverse warrior or plough (or shavasna 😉)

I used to do astanga and it took me years (not exaggerating) to be able to do and hold caturanga. It's just a question of working at it. Boring but true.

I have minimal turnout in my hips so don't go very far in forward wide-leg bends (standing seated or lying).

I like twists, generally. Lord of the Dance. Prone Pigeon (that stretch at the side of the arse!). And Urdvha Dhanurasana, although I can only do it holding on to someone's ankles these days because of long-term injury issues. That one took me years to build up to as well.

@IntermittentParps

Thanks for your refreshing post. I get so frustrated at what I can’t do when really I should be plugging away at them!

Well, that’s one of the interesting things about yoga IMO: it brings up feelings and reactions good and bad, and you have to be aware of them and work out how to deal with them. Which is not easy or quick, but as a pp said, it is called a ‘practice’ after all!

After I gave birth to my second child, shavasana became my favorite pose

I definitely am a beginner. Have done a few months of adriene daily videos. I found have pretty poor balance and upper body strength but ok flexibility. I love all the stretches. I still struggle with downwards dog. Just dont find it restful as my arms are weak. Its improving though. Crow is still a very long way off for me!

Weepingwillows, you can do D Dog standing against a wall. Gives your arms a rest but you can work on shoulder position and tucking in the ribs etc, as well as stretching your hamstrings.

It took me years (again, I'm not exaggerating) to be able to stay in D Dog for any period of time. I wasn't very strong.

@EmpressJKRowlingSpartacus

But my absolute nemesis is anything that involves a bind. My arms are short and I can’t do it.

Snap. I just grab my shirt usually, & use a block for poses like Triangle to make my arm a bit longer.

Have you tried using a strap? It really helps!

I love crow (I’m currently learning to crow into tripod and back, then jump back to chataranga)
Any bind/forward fold - I have no flexibility at all!

I love pigeon and lizard and cow legs - anythi g that stretches my hips that way. Hate anything that involved bending my back the 'wrong' way like cobra or up dog. It causes me lower back pain for days so now I just stay in plank for those.

Towards the end of my practice I do a little balance sequence of Eagle, Tree, Extended Stork and Dancer. As time goes by I wobble less and less and I feel really set for the day then as i'm finished, apart from a few Moving Mountains t wind down.