Get yourself set just as surely and solidly as you did with
the Standing Bow Pulling. Straighten
your steeple and move the head and shoulders back as far as they will go,
farther than ever, allowing the chest to puff forward. That is exactly the
torso position you are going to keep throughout the pose – at least you can try.
As in the Standing Bow Pulling, this is a totally front to
back, up and down, parallel position. So, as you take your big step forward
with the right foot, check your left hip.
If you have allowed it to angle slightly left, adjust both hips and torso to
face the mirror directly, and keep them level.
As you pivot forward, use all your strength and
determination. Be sure you are moving
all in one piece (that means maintaining exactly the position you started
in). To make this easier, pretend the
floor is a pit of hungry crocodiles. Your standing leg is in no danger,
being quite fortunately encased in crocodile repellent. But every other bit of
you is in grave danger. The only way to keep your tummy and chest and left leg
safe is to stretch your torso forward like crazy by lifting, ever lifting your
arms and head, while you stretch more and more backward with the pointed foot
and ever more forward with the fingertips, all the while lifting at front and
back.
If you can pivot forward only two inches today, so be it.
Tomorrow it will be ten. Remember to
keep that left hip level. The more you press it down, the more pull you are
going to feel in the back of your standing knee. This is good. Pull more
Make up your mind you are going to do it for 10 seconds, and
don’t give up!
Everybody wants to let their hands collapse and rest on
their heads for an instant before doing the pose to the left. For reasons of
stamina and discipline, do not succumb to this temptation!
By now you realize
how difficult it is not the feed the crocodiles!!!
Benefits
The Balancing Stick perfects control and balance by improving physical, psychological, and mental powers. In addition, it firms hips, buttocks, and upper thighs, as well as providing the same benefits for the legs as the Standing Head to Knee. It increases circulation, strengthens the heart muscle, and stretches the capacity of the lungs. It is one of the best exercises for bad posture; strengthens the flexibility of latissimus, deltoid, and trapezius muscles; and improves the flexibility, strength, and muscle tone of shoulders, upper arms, spine and hip joints.
Read more
about this poses benefits, pictures, video and tips from here!
Drawings
and info from "Bikram´s Beginning Yoga Class " Book, 1978.
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