I figure, what the heck, start big! No, this is not me in the photo -- but it will be! I have been slowly getting closer to the final version of this pose this year.
My greatest challenge for this pose is my psoas (a large hip flexor muscle that runs from the lower spine, through the pelvis, to attach to the upper, inner thigh.) I have the tightest psoas of any student I have ever met -- really. Because of my tight psoas, my pelvis actually tips forward, making large backbends quite challenging! Kapotasana has been on my "dream list" for years. Now that I have got a year in my forties under my belt -- it is time for more!
In the book, BKS Iyengar shares two ways of entering the pose: Pressing up from a lying position in Supta Virasana and from the top down, lowering down from Ustrasana (Camel Pose). The second entry is much more advanced.
I am working on both ways. I have spent the last 6 months or so, consciously releasing my psoas. (Here is more on how to do that.) So now I can lay comfortably in Supta Virasasana without a lift under me and I have begun "playing" with pushing up. I can get to my head! I have also been working on deepening Ustrasana so I can get lower. It is amazing how "stuck" I have been in these poses for years -- doing the same position time and time again. I finally feel I am moving past the stuck point!
Oh, and, yes, this counts for two poses. #176 in Light on Yoga is a variation of Kapotasana.
Kapotasana
Originally uploaded by bananajagal
Originally uploaded by bananajagal
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