Poses in our least favorite category...

At a Sunday morning class a few weeks ago,   we had to do a series of three Locust poses.   Locust requires you to lie on your stomach and to lift your legs and chest off of the ground.     It can be intense to hold because it really stresses your lower back muscles.

Locust

Our instructor had us hold the pose for 5 longish breaths each time.   For each pose,  she had us change our arm positions.      When we were done,  my neighbor said to me "I hate this pose".   My feelings are a bit less hateful,  but I cannot say that it is a pleasant pose to hold. 

This got me to thinking about poses that we like more than others and those that we do not like as much as others.     Locust is never a pleasant pose because, for most of us,  we have weak lower backs and the pose focuses on those muscles along with other core muscles.   What I believe , however,  is that many of our "least favorite" poses are the ones that we do not do as well as others and many of our "favorite poses" are the ones that we do well. 

My thougths on this subject is that if you struggle with a pose,  then that pose needs more focus.   The reason we struggle with poses are mostly lack of strength,  lack of flexibility,  or lack of balance.  By working on those poses where we have issues,  we work on those weaknesses that are the basic cause of the dislike.

For myself,  I really had issues with Seated Wide Legged Forward Fold during the early part of my practice.    This pose requires you to sit with your legs wide and fold forward. 

Seated Wide Angle Forward Fold

It was very frustrating to find myself barely being able to fold at all.    I dreaded when an instructor had us do this pose because I felt  I was getting nothing out of it.    It took a ton of effort  (doing a wide fold with my legs on the wall for example) to be able to start being able fold forward.    Now I am able to move forward enough to put my elbows on the ground with a goal of eventually having my whole upper body on the floor  (with about 1% change of success for that) .   It will never be in the favorite pose category,  but at least it is out of the least favorite pose category.

Lately , one of my instructors has had us do a core exercise where we lie on our backs with our legs pointing up and then having us drop one leg down about 30 degrees toward the ground (with the other leg pointing up to the ceiling).  It is most challenging and I just do not like doing it as the pose really stresses my lower back muscles.    Instead of just dreading the pose, however,   I have incorporated it into my general core routine.   It may never move out of the least favorite pose category,  but at least I am trying..

Namaste..