Accomplishing Wheel Pose with the Help of Partners
I am SO sore today!
Yesterday afternoon, I attended an intensive yoga workshop with local yoga master, Bhumi. Since this was my first time, I didn’t quite know what to expect.
She covered A LOT: everything from chanting sacred text to adjusting your practice for the changing season. Bhumi told us that cold weather places more stress on your adrenal and endocrine systems. Therefore, you should do more poses that target associated organs and glands. I’ll write more about this in a future post, but for now, I’ll tell you what happened when we practiced one of those poses: Wheel.
I have done Wheel before, but not without great effort and some trepidation. I simply don’t bend backwards! As a child, I was the kid who got as far as touching the crown of my head to the floor, but lacked the upper body strength necessary to drive it all the way home (unlike my daughter in the picture). I’ve had more success as an adult, but even so, I don’t do this pose often.
Yesterday, Bhumi had us do Wheel with 2 partners and what a difference! They actually had me in a perfect semi-circle; in fact, I began to “oval-out” at the top. My helpers were a wonderful yoga instructor in training named Brenda, and Bhumi herself.
I laid on the floor while Brenda stood above my head. As I grasped her ankles, she bracketed my elbows with her hands. This prevented my elbows from bowing outward, which pinches the neck and can result in a headache.
When I was ready, I began to push “out” (not down) on Brenda’s ankles. Astonishingly, I rose with hardly any effort at all and the next instant, I was in full-blown Wheel! Since my tendency is to turn my toes outward, Bhumi was at my feet holding them to make sure the toes stayed inward. I could have stayed in the pose far longer, but with my toes turned in, I topped out after 10 seconds.
And while my lower back is definitely sore this morning, my nervous system feels stimulated; I’m more alive and alert. Most importantly, I’m proud that at age 43, I pushed myself physically to achieve something I’ve never done before.
