I would practice with having my leg rested on a waist-level support, e.g. the sink/desk/table. Then I'd go reach for the leg as if I'm doing the standing head to knee, this way I can focus on the body stretching to reach my leg. I realized that when I first started doing this I'm more afraid of going off balance/falling rather than focusing on stretching and reaching for the leg. I don't know if this makes a whole lot of sense but this was what I was doing and it worked for me :happy:

I am not a pro at this pose yet but I have improved over the last few weeks.
I haven't gotten my head to knee just quite but very close. haha.
I like to make sure i'm balanced on one foot first, then grab my feet under the toes, then breathe in and as I exhale, kick my leg out.
I've gotten to bending my elbows down to my calves and my head very close to knee. its frustrating but u just have to keep trying. i'm also interested in tips from others.

How is your head to knee with stretching on the floor series? Those postures are intertwined. Since you mentioned that you can barely reach your foot while standing do you mean stretching it outward or grabbing it in front of you?

My suggestion is stretch harder in the floor head to knee posture. You'll get that flexibility and it will be easier when standing.

Also, I go super duper slow. I lock my knee, contract my thigh, breathe, wait, breathe, then I grab my foot and I wont extend it until I'm planted into the floor and balanced.

This is a challenging one...but practice makes perfect! Good luck!

I also have trouble with this pose, and I also have tight hamstrings and carry extra weight. What do you guys do when you can't achieve the full pose? Do you just keep trying to grab your foot? Some other people in my class simply hold their legs up without grabbing for the foot for the duration of the pose (maybe they're working on balance and the locked knee?). I'm not sure what to do.