Scorpion Pose

So my friend Valerie in Friendswood asked me for some suggestions about using a chair to work toward scorpion pose. She wants to teach it tomorrow in her advnaced class. So since I find this sort of thing difficult to describe in an email, I decided to practice toward that pose today and then I had Kelly take some pictures of me in my practice. And while what follows is not the only way to do scorpion pose on a chair but here are some key actions to incorporate and some ideas for how one might do it. (There are other really good ways. This is from what I did today.)



Very Important:

1. MELT YOUR HEART-You cannot, cannot, cannot underestimate the amount of "melt" needed for this pose.

2. Activate Inner Spiral in conjunction with a massive organic energy though your legs and out through the balls of your big toes to open your upper back even more and get length through your spine.

When I practice this pose I spend my opening poses working opening my upper back and I pretty much turn the standing poses into back bends with massive tailbone anchoring down into the legs. Many times I use the added assistance of placing my top hand behind my head to really push back, using my upper palette to help open up the stiff part of my upper back. Add in lots of thigh stretching, hip opening and a long supta virasana, paryankasana and paryankasana with a block in my upper back.

Then you are into some of the fun stuff:

Here the chair is right at the base of my shoulder blades and I am descending in the groins while scooping my tailbone. Here the chair is initially placed in the middle of my shoulder blades and then I drag back until it is at the base of the shoulder blades and it creates a big shoulder loop. This is position #1 for the hands:
This is position #2 for the hands:
This is position #3 for the hands:
This is a great prep for opening the chest and practicing the work for the legs. Here I am charging my arms toward the wall while taking my thoracic spine way in while at the same time Inner Spiralling while taking my tailbone in and extending into the wall with my legs:
Here we begin using the chair. Here in the first stage I am bringing my chest into the middle of the room, just like I did in the previous pose. (Note the external linking, those of you in the TT.)
Same here only now my feet are on the chair seat. (There is an intermediate stage where your toes are not hooked but your feet would just be on the chair seat which is no small task to accomplish.)
With my toes hooked, I am trying to melt more and then I lifted my heard and voila, there are my toes and the chair. Scorpion with the assistance of the chair.
Okay Valerie (And anyone else who dares) there you go. I hope they enjoy it.

Next blog installment will be from Montana, if there is wireless there. Have a good week.