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As the Crow Flies
By Monica Schmidt, BS

If you have been practicing any style of Power or Vinyasa Yoga with loyalty, you have undoubtedly tried, and maybe mastered Bakasana. Whether balance is still eluding you, or you feel stable and strong, trying Crow with different variations can start you flying-or take you to new heights. Everything depends on how you leave the nest.

BEGINNER SET-UP
Lowering your center of gravity will help you learn to balance if lack of strength is your faltering issue. Try starting in wide yogic squat, called Garland Pose. Wedge your prayer position between you inner thighs. Do not be troubled if your heels are lifting; focus on tucking arms firmly on legs. Elbows should be placed in a way that you can push your legs open with them. While holding your arms into your legs, release palms from prayer and put your hands on the mat slightly forward of your feet. Move hands forward a few more inches, until you feel your heels lifting and weight coming into the balls of your feet and toes. Go on tip toes as much as possible, shifting weight in the hands evenly.

FIRST-TIME FLYER
Do not concentrate on lifting your feet. Instead, focus on pulling up through your abdominals. In yoga, core power is referred to as "bandhas." When you get that sensation that you are falling forward onto your head, pull up, look up, and use your bandhas! Dig into the mat with your fingers, especially the tips. Much of controlling the balance is in your hands. Use muscles in each finger to push and grip down when falling forward. A combination of abdominal lifting, good arm to leg placement, and using the roots of your hands will initiate flight into Crow. At this level of yoga practice, your crow will appear much wider and lower than seen illustrated in most yoga books. Your arms will be bent, possibly up to ninety degrees, and your feet will most likely be far apart, like a frog.

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS
Having mastered the principle of floating feet of the floor, students usually settle into a "habitual crow." Naturally, setting it up the same way every time is logical. Once you have found success in the pose, "why change?"

Just as we look to evolve in poses for flexibility, we can benefit by advancing our strength poses as well. If you have embodied a balanced crow, it's time to fly it higher. Requiring more core strength, more arm strength, and a tighter leg set-up, this version of Crow will continue to challenge your edge.

Start this upward idea slowly. Wherever you currently place your knees, move them up your arms a few inches and find a new groove for them to leverage against your arms. Try starting with your arms straighter. When you lessen the bend in the elbows, you will have to use hand strength, so press in with fingers. Try bringing the feet together. Squeeze in as if your legs had magnets on the inside from ankle to groins. Eventually, you have a crow with your knees fitted in each arm pit, like pieces of a puzzle. Arms will be straight, and hips will be high. Your crow will look like a handstand with tucked legs. The next step in this vinyasa might be to float the legs up to handstand. Most of us need serious dedication for this advancement. Unless you were an acrobat, gymnast, or the like, the core work is deep, unfamiliar, and at times unfeasible.

METAPHOR OF "THE CORE"
The personal rewards of progressing in arm balance is profound. When you gain control physically, you may experience a metaphysical cross-over effect. You feel as though authority is radiating from your core, as a being. Strength to lift your body, to control your movement, to hold yourself in a new way will generate awareness in your nervous system. As structure and coordination physically develop, a new self-perception extends with intertwined phenomena, penetrating mental and spiritual layers.

DON'T GIVE UP
Whether your crow hasn't left the nest or whether you have been flying at the comfortable level for quite some time, allow yourself room to grow. Always give your all, and enjoy the liberation of energy rushing through your system. Direct your intention, find a sense of presence, and embrace the moment. You will discover your internal dialogue becomes self-empowering rather than self-defeating. The reality becomes, "If I move with precise intention, with my soul in the moment, I soar.".