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Chakra Bhandasana - Grab heels in a month backbend challenge

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I must admit I've never been that bothered about grabbing my heels and taking my dropback into chakra bhandasana. Dropping back and coming up was a big deal to me, loved working on that, making it all much more controlled, smoother, but more than anything making the breath steady, the mind calm and focussed.

But then I got to thinking recently, as I began work on getting my kapo back, grabbing your heels in kapo is a big deal, something to hold on to such that you can draw your body nicely into the asana and settle. I don't mean tug and pull and wrench yourself in but using the heels to guide yourself into the full expression of the posture and then settle down to work on the breath.

Perhaps chakra bhandasana is something like that, getting something to hold on to ...where does that take you I wonder and what is it to breathe there, really breath.

And besides I need a challenge, gone a little soft. Those three months or so of being ill took their toll and it's only now I feel like my practice is coming back, that I'm starting to feel, I don't know, vibrant again.

I don't want to mess with my regular practice, interesting stuff going on in there at the moment with the mantras, lamrim, the breath, kumbhakas, all in my asana practice.... but back bends, can play with backbends.

And I saw this video from  Jen René Peg Mulqueenand Michael Joel Hall.  Michael, now he's a tall fella. This is the kind of Yoga video I like, the work in progress, just beginning to get it kind of yoga video, inspiring. Michael makes me think that yeah, I could do this. But it's Peg's section a minute in that iIfound particularly interesting, standing much closer to the wall than I've ever dared, interesting, was trying in this morning.

Actually I just watched it again and am thinking about the role of the bolsters, was trying to get a picture of Peg with her hands flat but they never go flat but rather spider walk along the bolster...it's kind of graffiti 'David Garrigues  was yur'.



And it's like Christmas, want to go to sleep early so the morning comes more quickly and I can open presents.

Here's the video. Supposedly there was a Madonna track on it but somebody complained so you'll have to hum your favourite Madonna tune.


And OK here where I am currently with my own backbend, this is from this morning. I usually practice three feet from the wall so i can touch off the first couple of times coming back up. I haven't been practicing them much recently, three drop back every other day perhaps.


Hopefully this video will appear soon, just uploaded it but have to run off to work.


I think the closet I ever got walking in was to just touching my heels ( must find a picture) so this is something new.

Kind of playing on my old Richard Freeman 14 day Karandavasana challenge.

Besides I'm interested in studying with Vinay Kumar in Mysore, see yesterday's post and he does a lot of work on backbends, so need to tidy mine up a little at my own pace.

Here's Vinay Kumar of Mysore from one of the videos I added to my post yesterday (Much more to Mysore part II), the second video I think but if backbends are your thing you'll want to watch all of the second and third videos, it's quite a demo.


Vinay Kumar, a way to go then...


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