Today, I nailed Bakasana (Crow Pose). Well, kind of, nearly. Maybe I didn’t ‘nail’ it, but I definitely gave it a good tap.
Bakasana has been my nemesis pose for many years. I’ve tried hands wider apart, closer together, arms bent, arms straight, knees high, knees low, gaze forwards, gaze down, hips high, hips level but never managed to find that sweet spot.
Each time a yoga teacher has begun with the instruction ‘now place your hands in front of you on your mat, shoulder distance apart’, I’d think ‘here we go, today’s the day, I’m gonna crack this crow’ and yet I’d remain crouching on my toes, timidly tipping forwards, unable to lift my toes from the floor and balance.
My frustrations with Bakasana almost stopped me from pursuing my yoga teacher training. At that moment when all your gremlins come out to play, your confidence crashes around you and you can think of a million reasons why not to push yourself out of your comfort zone, Bakasana was my number one blocker.
I eventually sent my gremlins packing and figured I’d use my immersive yoga teacher training as an opportunity to conquer Crow Pose once and for all. Surrounded by knowledgeable teachers and an inspiring environment, Bakasana would surely be within reach right? Unfortunately, that master plan was scuppered when after 5 days in, I busted my knee surfing. Bummer.
And so the Crow regained its position high up on it’s elusive perch.
Until today.
I awoke feeling pretty cruddy and almost bailed on my yoga practise – I’m super-glad I didn’t. When I got to the point in my sequence where I should be practising Bakasana but I usually flap about, rocking aimlessly, I decided to mix it up and try a different tack. Hah – you didn’t see that coming did you Mr Crow?
I repositioned my mat in front of my sofa. Acknowledging that my biggest fear has been face-planting, my aim today was to build confidence by rocking forwards until my head rested on the sofa. I planted my hands on my mat and moved them a little wider than usual. I held my hips high and tucked my knees up towards my arm pits. Then I started to tilt forwards, aiming my nose towards the sofa. I soon realised I was way too close to the sofa and so I inched back a bit and tried again. I was still too close so I inched further back still. The sofa now looked a scarily long way away but I took up my position, began to tilt and before my nose had reached the sofa my toes were airborn.
I had found that sweet tipping point when suddenly the pose comes together, muscles engage and it all makes sense.
I squealed with triumph and then did it again, just to make sure. And guess what – no face-plant. What a fab way to start the day.
So the two key learning points for me were that I needed to move my hands wider and that I was no way near tipping far enough forward. Aiming my nose towards something soft helped me to achieve the correct position without chickening out.
I may not be quite ready to attempt Bakasana away from the safety of my sofa just yet, but I’m going to practise it each day and visualise the moment when I’m in a yoga class, I plant my hands on my mat and I fly. Oh yes, me and Mr Crow are going to be best buddies.
So the moral of this story – don’t let the crow get you down.