"If there is light in your heart, you will find your way home"

Hom has changed quite a bit. Loads of teachers have left, loads of new teachers have joined. I've been a little irregular with my studio practice off-late, thanks to the increasing hamstring pain. But I've been treating it and hopefully can get start going for my regular practice at the studio. But the good thing is I have started practicing at home on my own. It's of course easier when someone is leading you through the asanas and instructing you to get into proper alignments, but i now realise the importance of a personal self-led practice. It's a little extra brain work, because you have think about the shapes you will be getting into, but it's worth it. I think I am going to plan my sequence before hand so I know can flow without interruptions during my practice.

The title of this post is something that June shared with us on Tuesday before and after the class. The theme of her class was prayer hands. With your hands in prayer mudra, touching your heart center, your eyes closed you connect your mind and your body with your inner light. And as long as you have that light to guide you, you'll find your way home, to your sanctuary. Kind of like that Coldplay song : Fix You (Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones and I will try to fix you). No?

The asana I will talk to you about today is called Astavakrasana or the Eight Angle Pose. I tried it for the first time today and I could manage to get my feet off the ground at least. So that's a good sign. Now keeping them up for more than 10 seconds is the real deal! But like everything else in life, most difficult asanas need a lot of patience. With time you'll eventually get to the full expression of the asana.  The asana is dedicated to Astavakra, a sage in Hindu mythology. It is said that when the sage was in his mothers womb and his father was reciting the vedas, he made a lot of mistakes and recited some of them incorrectly.  Hearing this the sage laughed inside his mother's womb. The father then cursed the unborn child to be bord with eight defects. The child was then born bent and curved in eight places and hence gained the name asta (8) - vakra (curves/bends) - asana (pose).


                                      

(Image from : http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2491)

(Image from : http://yogaanatomy.net/astavakrasana/)

It requires a lot of strength, you need to activate your core, you need to stablise your breath and keep your focus. It's essentially an arm balance and needs you to balance the weight of your body on your forearms. It's kind of like the crow pose or Kakasana. I realise I haven't written about kakasana. Will do so soon. It's another pose that requires a lot of regular practice to get into. Like any other arm balance, astavakrasana, strengthens the wrists, arms and shoulders. It also tones the stomach and tights and of course, improves your balance dramatically.

I am still learning how to do this asana and hold it, so whatever I describe here, is what I've been taught and my observations and learnings. Here's a brief step-by-step how to:

1. Start in Dandasanaor or staff pose. I'll describe the right side. Keeping the left leg straight and the left foot flexed, hug your right knee to your chest and hold it there for some time, to open your hips. 
2. With your right knee still glued to you chest, place your left palm firmly on the ground
3. Using your right hand, bring your right leg behind your right shoulder. the back of your right thigh should be resting on your right triceps.
4. Draw your shoulders back when you're doing this, so that the back muscles activate and engages
5. With your right leg firmly in position, place your right palm down to press it flat to the ground 
6. Now with an inhale lift up your left leg and with an exhale hook your left ankle over the right ankle.
7. With an inhale again, push you down through your hands to lift you hips off the floor. With an exhale bring your shoulders forward to create a 90 degree bend in your elbows as you extend your feet to the right.
8. Squeeze your right arm with your inner thighs to keep your leg in place.
9. Now the important part, keep your core engaged and your gaze locked on a point on the ground in front. Hold for as long as you can. Ideally at least 30 secs they say, I'm currently struggling to go past 10 seconds :)
10. Then slowly bring down you hips and rest on the mat and unravel your legs. And repeat on the left side. 

So there, it's quite an amazing pose. I am working on variations of the crow pose, so I'll be posting in that category of asanas. Thankfully, my core is a lot stronger now and these asanas are attemptable now :)

Namaste.