Yogi Flight School FAQs

Common Tips:

• Gaze forward, not downward
• Grip the mat with your fingertips
• Lean into the pose slowly - don’t rush the process
• Your “Oh Shit” point is where you feel that you will fall forward - trust the setup and embrace it
• Use a cushion or pillow beneath your face - you won’t be as afraid to fall if there is something there to catch you as you learn

Common Tips:

• Mula Bandha is more useful for crow - squeeze your inner thighs to activate your pelvic floor and squeeze your abs.

Common Tips:

• This is a very difficult pose, so give yourself lots of time to get there.
• Lean and gaze forward.
• Be sure your elbows are bent enough to sustain the pose.
• Imagine you are pinning your knee to the back of your arm.
• Push the floor away vigorously.
• Make sure you get your knee into the "elbow hole," the spot where your elbow bones articulate together. This will create a more stable foundation for your knee.
• Shift forward as much as you can, and then shift DOWN. Imagine you're trying to eat a cookie off the floor. Your upper body needs to shift forward and down a lot more than you think it does!

Common Tips:

• It's all about the weight shift, and until you click with that forward weight shift, it's going to be a challenge. The key for single legged crow is leaning way forward. Coming from 3-legged dog, once the knee is on your arm, lean waaaay forward and your leg will get light all by itself. Work on the weight shift first, and don't worry about lifting the leg yet - keep your toes on the floor behind you (the extended leg) and keep shifting forward until you feel your back toes start to get light. Go slow.
• Try starting with the funky variation with 1 pincha arm (one forearm on the floor). This will help you to realize just how far forward you need to lean and how to transfer the balance in your hips.
• Look in the direction you are moving. 
• Breathe. Go forward and up on an exhale.
• When lifting the feet, do it slowly, one at a time. 
• Draw the heel to the bum and point the feet.
• Coming to one legged crow from crow is the hardest one - If you do prefer to get into Eka Pada Bakasana from Bakasana, don't worry about straightening the leg at first. Work to lean forward enough that when you remove the knee from your arm, you can hold it there without falling back, keep leaning forward as you lift the knee off the arm and push down more through the hand that no longer has the leg on it. 
• From regular crow, try just lifting a knee quarter of an inch from your arm and holding that. You don't need to worry about significantly changing balance. Focus on what it feels like. Then, when you are comfortable, send the foot back with balance. 

Common Tips:

• Jumping forward - Work on nailing the jump back first before you spend too much time on this. Practice it one leg at a time, the way it’s taught in the module. 
• Jumping back (to Chaturanga) - Practice landing your knees on the floor just behind your hands. Slowly slowly, you will gain more distance and eventually jump all the way back.

Common Tips:

• Push the floor away vigorously
• Round your upper back
• Think of sliding your knees UP your arms. Engage your hip flexors to find a sensation of knees tucking in as close to your belly as possible.
• Allow your body weight to shift forward and grip your fingertips A LOT. Your shoulders will need to come  significantly in front of your wrists to balance this pose.

Common Tips:

• Once you're comfortable at the wall, start to play with your balance and figure out how to hold balance with the wall just behind you. Then start to get moving away from the wall incrementally.
• If you want to go wall-free, go straight to the middle of the room - because you'll learn how far you can go before it's too far. The balance will be right at the point where you've aaaaaalmost gone too far. Use that realization while you practice (whether close to or away from the wall).
• Module 6 contains a section on practicing falling. It's important to practice falling as many times as you need to to get rid of the fear of going over in your handstand. The fear of falling is what prevents most of us from daring to kick up hard enough. Practice falling to the side (and removing your hands from the floor as you do), until your exit-strategy becomes a no brainer.