Keeping Up With the Yogis – The Lost art of the 8 Point Pose

As I teach Vinyasa Yoga classes I continually see students trying to keep up in the sun salutations.  Now mind you some classes are so fast it makes you wonder if it’s even yoga, but when I teach it’s an easy moderate pace that most people can keep up with.  What becomes frustrating is watching students struggle through the plank to chaturanga dandasana to up dog transition because they are trying to keep up.  Either they lack the strength or the patience to do the proper movements that will build their strength and begin to flow.

My suggestion to those of you who want to keep up?  Go sign up for a workshop, take a beginner class, or take a martial art.  Anything that will remind you how to be a beginner again and say to yourself this is yoga and it’s for me!  The other thing I suggest is to learn how to execute the 8 point pose and practice it in the middle of your sun salutations until you are so bored with it you might die.  Eight point pose will build your strength and your body’s understanding of how to execute this challenging transition.  You will also be able to sustain your practice for years to come without injury or under/over developed musculature. 

Like I always say, if you don’t take the time, time will take you.  Go ahead don’t take the time to learn these key transitions, try to keep up with the yogi’s  and see how much time it takes you to recover from the rotator cuff pain. But don’t say we didn’t worn you.