Dragonfly

 Now that October has concluded, I'm shifting gears out of running (at least a bit) and realigning my focus with yoga. I dusted of my Lab class pack and headed back for challenging practices of arm balances and inversions. 

Last week Sara and I took a class with Carmen, owner of The Lab. Carmen is (and truthfully all of the instructors at The Lab are) amazing. We spent time working on a variety of poses, including Dragonfly (or Parsva Bhuja Dandasana for those of us using sanskirt).

Here's an photo example of the pose:

                                     

When I first started at The Lab in February, I remember watching our instructor set up this pose and thought I'd never see a Dragonfly of my own.

I'll do my best to explain how you get into the position:

You start sitting on the ground with your feet on the floor and your knees bent. Place your left leg into a figure four so that the left ankle rests just below the right knee. From there, you work on your breathing and twisting your torso to the right. Only once you've established contact with your left foot on the back of your left tricep can you move on.

Here's where it really got tricky for me - Now it's time to get into position to balance on your arms. Without losing the foot/tricep contact on your left side, swivel up onto your right toes allowing your arms to get into position about shoulder distance apart.

For months, I struggled with this transition. Having enough strength to lift my hips with one foot. When I could lift my hips, my foot would often slide right off my tricep.

                                         

Last week, I was finally able to connect the steps above and then lift my right foot. A few seconds of yoga glory and a reminder that things that seem impossible become possible with hard work and dedication.

Here's a short tutorial on Dragonfly pose: