Being petite and small build, I always feel that I am not strong enough for arm balance poses and inversions. My focus in asanas has always been to build more strength and to grow stronger everyday to overcome my weaknesses in arm balance asanas. I was pleasantly surprised when I felt that I couldn’t do a headstand because my shoulders are not strong enough but Satya Wei Ling pointed out to me that my arms are definitely strong enough to hold my body weight 🙂 I guess the reason why I cannot hold arm balance poses and inversions well is because there is this little voice in my head that keeps telling me that I need to build more strength, that I’m not ready yet.😂 Sometimes we need to control our mind over our body to get things done in life.
If you think that you have done enough ground work to build your foundation, create the muscle memory to bring you to the next level. We have an amazing body and I am ever so fascinated by the different shapes that our body can create. This is also one of the reason why I love yoga. Attached is how I try using blocks to assist me to create muscle memory getting into Lolasana and jumping through to Dandasana. Now I feel that my arms are too short to lift me up to jump through! 😆 Hope this little tips help you as well if you also face the same problem in lifting up for Lolasana or in jumping through during your yoga practice. 😉
Contributed by: Annie Chua (Jan’17)
