Breaking Down Bird of Paradise

Earlier this week, a new student at Lifesouce Yoga & I were chatting between classes about how we began practicing Yoga & how long we'd each been practicing. As a fairly new student, Miss Shalamar was really interested, or rather intrigued, by some of the more advanced postures that make so many people who are unfamiliar with or new to Yoga scratch their heads & say, "Now wait...how in the world did she get her leg there!?" She even brought over an old issue of Yoga Journal we had at the studio with Seane Corn (one of the most incredibly strong & flexible yoginis around), on the cover & asked if I could get into the pose she was photographed in. Unfortunately, that particular pose was not one that I have accomplished yet so, I offered to show Shalamar a similar pose that also involved binding & a leg extension called Bird of Paradise. Bird of Paradise is one of my very favorite poses but more importantly, in terms of our conversation, it's a pose that was a monumental achievement in my Yoga practice. After first seeing the pose, Shalamar was certain there was no way she could ever do it. So, I began to break it down for her step by step & like with any new piece of information we receive or subject we're learning, it's always easier when broken down into manageable/digestible "chunks" (PR people think, sound bites!).  As soon as I showed her the basic poses she could do to prepare her for Bird of Paradise, her view of the pose immediately shifted from unattainable to attainable goal! She, graciously, even went so far as to say she was "inspired" by the insight I had given her on breaking down the pose which, was extremely humbling for me.  She was even the one to point out to me that I had just TAUGHT her how to work up to the pose. I, personally, am still so in awe of my teachers that I apparently don't realize I've picked up some of their knowledge through practicing with them!

So, why am I posting this? To toot my own horn? Hardly! The real reason I decided to share this with the whole blogosphere is that just a mere two to three days after Shalamar & I had this conversation, Bird of Paradise was in the next two vinyasa classes I went to that week! I guess it was the universe's way of saying that I had talked the talked so now I needed to walk the walk in class. I gladly did & then felt the further need to share my break down of the pose with all three people who read this blog. Enjoy!

Getting into this pose starts with establishing strong warrior 1 legs first. Front quad parallel to the floor. Knee directly above the ankle.

From warrior 1, you exhale & open up into warrior 2.





















From warrior 2, you move into side angle by bringing your elbow down to your quad.

As this becomes less challenging, you'll work to place your hand on the ground & open up your chest & heart as if you were about bend all the way over to into a backbend. 

Once you've accomplished this, you can work on binding. If you're right leg is forward, you want to reach your right arm under your right thigh & your left arm over your back until your hands meet in a bind.

From here, you'll work on stepping your left foot up to meet the right while, maintaining the bind.

Once you're here & have established your balance, you want to begin to the lift your torso & the right leg up.

From here, begin to extend the right leg.

It may seem impossible at first but, give your body time. As you work through each posture & become more confident in each, you will find yourself quickly working towards achieving Bird of Paradise, or any other posture with this mentality! To me, that's the beauty of Yoga... Each day you find your limit. Then, the next day you might only be able to meet that same limit, but the day after that, you're body might be ready to move the bar & assume the more advanced expression of a posture. With time & patience you really can achieve just about anything. With Yoga, there truly is always somewhere to go!

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti!