Yoga Pose (July) - Bakasana

If you read our blog very often, you'll know that H and I are avid yoga practitioners. Our preferred style is Bikram. If you don't know much about Bikram, you can read more here. Bikram is practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees, and 40% humidity. This style might sound intimidating, but you'd be surprised at how adaptable our bodies can be. I remember my first class...I high tailed it out of there before the floor series and puked in the trash can. But, after the first week, my body started to crave being in the heat and before long the heat was the best part. Fast forward another month and I was hooked on the "Power" (Vinyasa Style) classes more than the Hatha series. It was an amazing experience...to challenge your body physically and mentally.

Anyways, since H and I are trying to conceive, we've put Bikram on hold and have started taking regular Vinyasa classes. This by far was the best decision we could have made. Living without yoga was just not a good idea...I was so unbalanced. But, it's taken a good two weeks to retrain my body to twist and bend in certain ways. One of the poses I've been struggling with lately is Bakasan (or Crane Pose). Our Bikram teacher used to say "the harder it seems, the more you need it". One of the benefits of this posture is "balance"...go figure! Balance seems to be coming up allot in my life and since I've been struggling with it, I figure I must really need it! So, this month my goal is to focus on my upper body balance and specifically this pose.

http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/info/crane-pose.asp

I also figured while I'm at it, I might as well pick a pose each month and really focus on allowing my body to experience the benefits. So, who's with me?