yogis: what pose(s) do you struggle with the most and do you have goals for working toward them?

For me it's Wheel.
http://embodyphysicaltherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_5817.jpg
For the life of me, I can't get there. My instructor and I both know I have the strength, but there's something about the back flexibility I don't yet have. Working on it!

Also working on side plank with my leg up. I can pretty easily do side plank tree pose but not with the leg straight up.
http://media.yogajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/SidePlankPose2.jpg

What are other yogis working on?
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Replies

  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    I got the bridge-up (wheel) last year, that was my goal for the year. Try doing a lot of Camel pose, that stretches the upper back in the right way, the curve in the backbend should be mostly in the upper back.

    Working on handstands this year, I can kick up to the wall but only hold it away from the wall briefly.

    Arm balances in general are tough for me.

    My least favorite pose at the moment is the reverse half moon, and in that or regular half moon I can't look up or I will fall over.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    edited September 2016
    Kneeling is really tough for me but I am getting better. Ankles and knees are very tight. n6m6kkt138n3.jpg


    And to add, any balancing pose is still hard for me especially when I look up.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
    I struggle with very deep yogi squats. But I keep trying.
  • S2tupidAss
    S2tupidAss Posts: 25 Member
    I sweat a lot doing anything using my legs to stretch. Last year I started yoga, I still struggle with my lower body.
  • olymp1a
    olymp1a Posts: 1,766 Member
    edited September 2016
    I love the wheel! I managed to do it sometime on the first 6 months of practice although I thought it would take forever to get there. Turned out it was easier than I thought. Camel does help a lot.

    I really struggle with headstand. Still practicing on the wall, I know I must improve core strength to do it and I'm working on this direction.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    olymp1a wrote: »
    I love the wheel! I managed to do it sometime on the first 6 months of practice although I thought it would take forever to get there. Turned out it was easier than I thought. Camel does help a lot.

    I really struggle with headstand. Still practicing on the wall, I know I must improve core strength to do it and I'm working on this direction.

    Headstand I can do. Sometimes! I can do camel. I'll get wheel. I think it's partly psychological!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    yesimpson wrote: »
    I struggle with very deep yogi squats. But I keep trying.
    Those are tough. But man they are great for leg definition!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Kneeling is really tough for me but I am getting better. Ankles and knees are very tight. n6m6kkt138n3.jpg


    And to add, any balancing pose is still hard for me especially when I look up.

    With menopause poses looking up or with eyes closed can be a challenge for me sometimes. :smile:
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    robininfl wrote: »
    I got the bridge-up (wheel) last year, that was my goal for the year. Try doing a lot of Camel pose, that stretches the upper back in the right way, the curve in the backbend should be mostly in the upper back.

    Working on handstands this year, I can kick up to the wall but only hold it away from the wall briefly.

    Arm balances in general are tough for me.

    My least favorite pose at the moment is the reverse half moon, and in that or regular half moon I can't look up or I will fall over.
    Arm balances are super hard. As is reverse half moon. That's challenging on so many levels: strength, balance, flexibility. It's one of my favorites, oddly.
  • Ninjaeema
    Ninjaeema Posts: 21 Member
    I'm struggling with the lack of flexibility that I have in my elbows. It's really frustrating. Everything else seems to be improving with every practice. I'm looking forward to being able to get into better poses as I love my belly fat. It gets in the way sometimes.
  • ponycyndi
    ponycyndi Posts: 858 Member
    Ninjaeema wrote: »
    I'm struggling with the lack of flexibility that I have in my elbows. It's really frustrating. Everything else seems to be improving with every practice. I'm looking forward to being able to get into better poses as I love my belly fat. It gets in the way sometimes.

    I've got one tight hip, so I can do things on the left, but not the right. I'm still a newbie (less than a year of practice) but I'd like to be able to do a plow. My core is very weak though, so I'm working on that too.
  • scr183
    scr183 Posts: 49 Member
    Crow is my nemesis. My instructor swears it's mental - I have the strength for it, but as soon as I feel like there's a chance I might fall I panic and collapse. But this is why I love yoga - I get to meet both physical and mental challenges on my mat. :)
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
    Crow. Holy crap. I fall over every time.
  • scr183
    scr183 Posts: 49 Member
    Ooh - and for some reason, eagle legs. I don't know if it's a short legs/thick thighs thing, or a lack of flexibility in my outer hips thing, but whatever it is, let's just say it's always humbling when I hear full eagle cued in class. My foot looks longingly at the backside of my opposite calf, but...sigh.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
    I am able to do wheel but it makes me very dizzy and then when I come down I am nauseated. ugh. I, too, have short legs but a long body, and I find that some poses are physically impossible without yoga blocks.
  • scr183
    scr183 Posts: 49 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    I am able to do wheel but it makes me very dizzy and then when I come down I am nauseated. ugh. I, too, have short legs but a long body, and I find that some poses are physically impossible without yoga blocks.

    I hear you. Short limbs/long torso here. Staff pose makes me feel like a T-Rex. My fingertips barely touch the ground.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    Crow. Holy crap. I fall over every time.

    I put out a "crash pad" (my blanket) before I begin.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    scr183 wrote: »
    Crow is my nemesis. My instructor swears it's mental - I have the strength for it, but as soon as I feel like there's a chance I might fall I panic and collapse. But this is why I love yoga - I get to meet both physical and mental challenges on my mat. :)

    Yoga is awesome. A month or so ago someone, a moderator I think, said that yoga wasn't like weight training because it wasn't "progressive" or some such thing. I replied that there are multiple progressions in poses, and it can take yogis months or years of work to get through those progressions and when they do, it then leads to new poses with months or years of progressions... It's fabulous. The strength I've gained, after 19 years of weight lifting is amazing.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    Working on Niralamba Sirsasana or a unsupported headstand. I've only held it for a split second a couple of times.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    Working on Niralamba Sirsasana or a unsupported headstand. I've only held it for a split second a couple of times.

    You are my hero!!