Posing and Posers

Ran across Miley Cyrus in The Lord of the Dance, a difficult pose rather well done. I can't get my foot anywhere near my head regardless of angle from which I come, so kudos to Hanna Montana.

The poor lighting makes it difficult to really judge but it looks as though she's hyper-extended the knee on the standing leg and once those ligaments behind the knee are loose - they are loose forever.

It's a beautiful pose though and one that can't be accomplished without a great deal of mobility along the spine. Open shoulders and hips are necessary too. Even my eight year old, who is a noodle, can't pull this off and children are notorious for just "assuming the pose" whatever it may be.

I always ran across a poser in the form of Sarah Palin showing off her every-woman yoga skills with Tree Pose.

Cat, my training instructor, was fond of saying that a Tree could be planted anywhere in a good sequence. It's a go to pose that even the most novice student can pull off even if you have to prop her against a wall.

But though she strikes a good one for the camera, anyone who's taking a yoga class knows that the foot does not rest against the knee. Pushing into the knee is a big yoga no-no though nearly every beginner thinks that it is where the foot should go thanks to photos like this one.

The knee is really nothing to screw with regardless of the activity. In women especially it is particularly vulnerable because our wide hips result in the femurs angling in and this puts a strain on the knee ligaments. As Jade is fond of saying, "There is no such thing as a knee stretch." But because the foot pressing into the leg is crucial for balance in tree, placing the foot on the knee is just begging to injure it.

It's funny that yoga poses are the go to photo op moments in the celeb world. I guess that makes it mainstream, eh?

Tips for the New Yoga Student

As I am a new yoga teacher, I find "tips" of the trade helpful, but I like them as a student too.

In my never-ending quest to discover yoga blogs to share and learn from, I found a good post at Spoiled Yogi for the beginning student.

Most of the helpful hints I can still relate too even though I am technically not a newbie in the room.

A couple that stood out for me:

• Don't invest too much of yourself in how you look whether it's the clothes or the pose. What matters is being present at all.

And that brings me to a point of my own:

• Give yourself permission to focus solely on yourself. An asana practice is one place where navel-gazing is actually part of the goal.

Most places in our lives, call our attention out and away. Give yourself the gift of singular, mindful introspection. Because does it matter what you wear or if your Tree Pose blows in the non-existent wind your neighbor doesn't seem effected by?

Another helpful reminder, I resemble reminded the new student that falling down is part of the process.

I fell over during a Yang-Yin class when I lost my bearings in Triangle. What made it embarrassing was not the fall but that I nearly took my whole row with me in a domino effect. But aside from a sore hip, I emerged a bit wiser as in "always know where you are in space before adjusting yourself".

Finally tip that I loved was a reminder that everyone progresses at their own rate and there will be things you excel at and things that confound your limbs. I cannot consistently get into headstand without using the wall for guidance. There are students in the Ashtanga class I attend who effortless lift up ... and in the middle of the room no less ... who struggle with twists that I managed without a lot of pain or effort most days. It's not a contest. Really. And your fellow students are probably only scoping you out (though they shouldn't be) to try and figure out what you are doing that they could mimic. They envy you some pose too.

The last tip?

• Keep going back to class.

It was a struggle for me in the first six months of yoga. I was in a realignment class with women old enough to be mothers to me and was confounded by their dexterity to the point of chucking it all, but I kept with it for me and out of a sense that what I was doing was worth it for me in the longer run.

If you're a new student to yoga, let's hear your stories.