I love yoga but why is it so hard?

This....is such an interesting evolutionary cycle.  The practice of yoga.

The complex crux of knowing you require yoga in your life to evolve and allow change, conflicts with the comfortable, somewhat fearful part of you that knows that with evolution, comes great discomfort as you peel away who you know and are familiar with, for who ushers him or herself in and changes the landscape of the life you known.  So what do you choose?  The comfortable certain life or the not quite believable, unknown one?  What if you came to know the new life in steps, before it was fully implemented?  What if each step you took towards this new evolved you was practiced on your mat first and then replicated in real life situations?  What if what's been holding you back your entire life was not being a fresh, neophyte to life and instead being a seasoned veteran in something you truly are no longer interested in?  Would you trade your pro status for sub status?  Would you be willing to walk into ANY situation knowing you could fully and realistically handle it no matter what, because you have all of the tools you need even if some of them are still in the packaging and possibly are quite dusty? Or would you only desire the broken in tools that are vintage and been around and utilized for years if nothing else but for novelty's sake, knowing that the job they do is no longer the job YOU do? What is your choice in this moment?

Sometimes it gets better before it gets worse realistically...I've seen pitfalls, failures, disaster, disbelief, Murphy's law at work in the flesh before a resilient moment of triumph ever came.  I'm discussing my own life here and that of many others I've coached, helped heal, spoken with, witnessed and been in relationship with.  So what's the secret to yoga?  PRACTICE.  And what's the secret to practice? COMMITMENT.  And what's the secret to commitment?  FOCUS.  And whats the secret to focus? INTENTION. Your intention and knowing that everything else is sending you right to that intention, whether you know it or not.  So in other words, all of your pitfalls, failures, dis beliefs and disasters are already challenging so do you really need to add challenge to it?  Only if that other challenge edifies your persona, your thoughts, your physical strength and your life circumstances so it essentially eclipses that which your accustomed to without you avoiding the lesson, but instead your moving through it.  What's important about moving through it in THIS way?  I'll tell you. 

Yoga is a path, a journey of discovery, that requires not the belief of others' superiority, competition, distraction, belief system nor any of their isms.  When we subscribe to the philosophy and practice that which is yoga, we undertand where our source power originates and are able to develop it step by step instead of cultivating it superficially through others beliefs.  The very nature of yoga penetrates the core.  Superficial muscle is not the goal nor outcome of physical yoga practice.  Core, deep muscle strength, stability and overall flexibility is.  What's at your core?  YOU.  So essentially its why yoga is so challenging.  There's no one to follow nor to blame.  For whatever false ideals you create will be shattered through the process of your personal practice.  There is NO way that you can feel the downward spiraling emotions when you are doing the mental/emotional/physical work of yoga.  All that is there is truth's reflection. Unveiling. Presence.  I know when I'm not doing enough yoga before anyone can tell me because of my disposition. Its a form of self-care and its best to  practice like its your purpose.  For whatever else you're doing, yoga is your path to discover it on a higher level and yet its the higher level itself. I hope this resolves why you have to do the work no matter how hard it is.  Why pick 3 forms of exercise/therapy/empowerment when you have one at your reach that covers all three? Simplicity is the key to unlock the doors of the complicated life that you may not love as much as you used to. Its time to clean up, clean out and get clear.  Are you with me?

I guess I've told on myself...this is not just my passion but its also my purpose which is fed by my presence. I hope to continue to build my presence with you :)

 

I love you...stick to the challenge...and live out loud!

 

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted."
Read more from her at http://lotusflowerwellness.blogspot.com

Why do you practice?

“Why do you practice?”

 

 

The question was set after a discussion about how practice manifests itself and how important it is to consider what is important to each of us. For sure, asana is still very much a key element of what I consider yoga, but there are many other, more subtle ways that I now practice. So when I think about practice I think not just about doing asana, but also about meditation, making space, cultivating healthy relationships with loved ones, listening to my inner voice and making an effort to eat well and look after myself. These are just some of the things that I consider part of my yoga practice. Without sounding glib, yoga informs everything I do in one way of another because it has given me is space within which to navigate the ups and downs of life. I am slowly learning, that these cycles are the nature of everything, and to live in harmony requires acceptance of the ebb and flow of the universe. Choosing the path of yoga, however that manifests itself for us, often means confronting things that we have run away from. Taking the harder road over the easier one. But I strongly believe that it gives us a set of tools that help us to connect with our true inner spirit, enriching and fulfilling our lives in a meaningful way. So I pose the question to you, why do you practice? What does yoga mean to you? Have a think about it and you may be surprised.

 

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted."
Read more from her at http://lotusflowerwellness.blogspot.com

Tadasana Tuesday: Dolphin Plank

Makara Adho Mukha Svanasana Yoga Pose of the Week

Also Known As Dolphin Plank

How do you do it?

1. Begin in Downward Facing Dog. Shift your weight forward so that your shoulders are over your wrists.

2. One at a time, lower your forearms to the floor with your palms facing down. Place your elbows where your hands were, and spread your fingers wide. You want your body to be in one straight line, with your heels over your toes.

3. It’s very important to engage your abs here, so draw your belly button toward your spine. Keep the muscles in your tush relaxed, draw your shoulders away from your ears, and gaze between your hands.

4. Hold for 3-5 breaths. Then come back onto your hands and press back into Downward Facing Dog.

Benefits

• Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
• Stretches the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, and arches
• Strengthens the arms and legs, and core
• Helps prevent osteoporosis

Tadasana Tuesday - Parshvottanasana

 

Parshvottanasana: Yoga Pose of the Week!

Also Known As Intense Side Stretch Pose (Pyramid)

Pronounced (parsh-voh-tahn-AHS-anna)

How do you do it?

1. Come to a standing position close to the top of the mat with the feet hip distance apart. Stretch your left leg back so the feet are about 3.5′ to 4′ apart. Keep the right foot facing the front with the side of the foot parallel to the side edge of the mat. Keep the left foot turned about 60 degrees toward to the front foot. Try to keep both the legs straight.
2. Place the hands on the waist and turn the hips and shoulders so they are parallel to the top edge of the mat. Keep the back heel firmly pressed into the mat.
3. Place the hands on the right thigh and start sliding them down the leg. Make the effort to keep the right leg as straight as possible. Try to bend the torso at the waist area. Press the thighs backward so the torso stays elongated and pushed forward.
4. Maintain the intention to keep the right leg straight. However, if the hamstrings begin to complain, you may like to bend the right knee slightly so as to avoid overstretching the back side of the leg.
5. As you slide the hands down, if they don’t reach the floor on either side of the right foot, you may keep the hands on the shins or ankles or just as far down as they reach. Alternately, if you have them handy, you may like to place a pair of blocks on either side of the foot and place the hands on the blocks for support.
6. If you feel comfortable in the final posture, you may attempt to drop the chest further in an effort to bring it closer to the right thigh.
7. Try to stay in the final pose for about 25 seconds
8. To come out of the pose, slowly begin to lift the spine up from the waist, sliding the hands up the leg. When you are fully vertical, relax for a few breaths.
9. Repeat on the other side.

 

Benefits

• Calms the brain
• Stretches the spine, shoulders and wrists (in the full pose), hips, and hamstrings
• Strengthens the legs
• Stimulates the abdominal organs
• Improves posture and sense of balance
• Improves digestion

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted."
Read more from her at http://lotusflowerwellness.blogspot.com

Tadasana Tuesday - Bakasana

Bakasana - Yoga Pose of the Week!

Also Known As Crane or Crow

Prenounced (bahk-AHS-anna)

What does it mean?

baka = crane

How do you do it?

1. Squat down from Tadasana with your inner feet a few inches apart. Separate your knees wider than your hips and lean the torso forward, between the inner thighs.

2. Stretch your arms forward, then bend your elbows, place your hands on the floor and the backs of the upper arms against the shins.

3. Lift up onto the balls of your feet and lean forward even more. Begin taking the weight of your torso onto the backs of the upper arms while continuing to gaze forward and keeping heart open.

4. Take feet off the floor, one at a time, so you come to balance with both feet up.

5. Try to stay in this pose for 3-5 deep breaths.

Beginners: Try lifting one foot up at a time to get a feel for how far forward you need to bring yourself. Do not let your head drop. This will cause you to tip forward and lose balance. Put a blanket in front of you so you won’t be afraid of hitting your head if you fall. Everyone falls when learning this pose.

Advanced: Once you come up into the pose, do not let your elbows splay out to either side. Work on straightening your arms. Tuck the heels in close to your butt, and jump back to Chaturanga.

Benefits

• Strengthens arms and wrists
• Stretches the upper back
• Strengthens the abdominal muscles
• Opens the groins
• Tones the abdominal organs

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted."

Read more from her at http://lotusflowerwellness.blogspot.com/

Postnatal Yoga

Giving birth is the most challenging part in a woman’s life. It is very crucial to be strong both physically and mentally after pregnancy (especially first six months), to meet the requirements of the newly born.

Why Postnatal Yoga?

• Practicing yoga will give you the required support in the stage of changing responsibilities.
• Yoga in an ancient art that helps new mothers to stay fit, feel confident and increases stamina.
• It also makes them feel the lightness in every level of there being, that is, it makes them feel light physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
• However, diet plays a major role in the well being of the newly born and the mother.

Postnatal Yoga Practices

Normal exercises include:

• Reverse breathing for pelvic floor
• Alternate nostril breathing to calm the mind
• Legs up the wall pose to relieve from fatigue
• Supta Badakonasana
• a wonderful restorative pose as well as a gentle hip and heart-opening pose.  Lie on your back with the bottom of the feet together and knees open out to the side.  You can use blankets or pillows under your knees for support and to reduce any strain you may be feeling on the hips in this pose. Hold for 5-10 minutes to rest and, most importantly, relax!
• Warrior II pose for endurance:
• Strengthening and heat building pose that will fire up your core! Stand sideways on your yoga mat with your feet as wide as your arms can reach.  Point your foot forward and bend the knee over your ankle while reaching your arms out to the side and in line with your shoulders, keeping torso aligned over hips. Hold for 10 breaths on each side.
• Eagle pose for aching shoulders and neck
• A balancing pose that works to help you strengthen your core while opening your hips and shoulders.  Stand with your feet parallel– bend your knees– lift your right leg and wrap it around your left either hooking your toes behind your left calf or to the outside of your left ankle – simultaneously reach your arms out to the side and wrap your right arm under your left bringing your hands to touch.  Hold for 10,  breathe and repeat on other side.
• Some of the most popular yoga poses for new mothers are:
Spinal rolling Child Pose Leg lifts Cobra pose Plow pose Butterfly pose Locust pose Supporting Bridge pose Corpse pose
• Based on the requirements and complexity after the delivery, there are many other poses that can be practiced.
• Practicing some of these poses may cause few side effects, so they must be suggested individually by a yoga certified instructor.

Pranayama

• It is a very good exercise to increase oxygen levels in your body, there by increasing the blood flow.
• It calms the mind and makes the new mothers hyper active.
• Practicing pranayama for five minutes twice a day will show good results.

Caution: Do not practice kapalabhati pranayam, as it can hurt the abdominal area of the new mom

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted."
Read more from her at www.cammieyogaom.blogspot.com

Prenatal Yoga

The Basics of Prenatal Yoga

Before I start my “Find your Flow” posts, I think I should give a brief introduction to prenatal yoga.

We busy modern humans spend so much time running around and doing things for other people that it’s hard to get a chance to put the focus on ourselves on a regular basis, even when others tell us to! This constant rush of activity puts stress on our body and emotions, which can cause problems at any time, but is especially an issue during pregnancy. Stress and overactivity distracts us from the beauty of life, and finding true happiness and inner peace.

Yoga works in many ways to relieve our bodies and minds of the impacts of stress, and bring focus back inward to cultivate patience, compassion, and focus itself. When do you need those traits more than pregnancy and parenthood? If you have answers to that, those are just more reasons to do yoga.

What is Prenatal Yoga?

Prenatal Yoga is specially formulated to cater to the needs of a woman’s body when she is undergoing the biggest transformation of her life; pregnancy. Prenatal Yoga is a tender and sensitive form of yoga for all those mothers-to-be!
Prenatal Yoga helps strengthen the muscles and joints during pregnancy (muscles and joints become more vulnerable to damage during pregnancy) amongst many other health benefits.

Do’s and Don’ts

• Do: trust your instincts. If something feels bad, stop, and if something feels really good, do it more!
• Don’t: use inversion poses (bending upside down, or legs above the head) because they encourage blood flow away from the uterus, which is bad. 
• Do: stay RELAXED. Don’t stress too much about getting the pose right, we’re trying to de-stress here.
• Don’t: Lie on your stomach or your back.
• Don’t: use overly strenuous twist or backbend poses especially later in pregnancy because they cause pressure in the abdomen.

Just Remember…

• Poses can be easily modified to suit any body condition, also with the help of props.
• Yoga is a fantastic exercise but it should also be paired with a non-rigorous cardio activity such as walking.
• Pay attention to breath; an important part of yoga is the sync between breath and movement.

I’m sure there will be plenty more to learn in later posts. These are just the basics. Good luck!

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted."
Read more from her at http://
www.cammieyogaom.blogspot.com

Tadasana Tuesday - Revolved Lunge

How do you do it?

1. From Downward Facing Dog, bring the left foot forward in between hands.

2. Inhale sweep arms up over your head

3. Check that all 10 toes are pointing forward, back heel is raised off floor.

4. Bend the left knee so the calf and thigh are at a right angle with the thigh parallel to the floor.

5. Exhale bring hands in prayer position in front of your heart.

6. Then place your right elbow on your left thigh while gazing over your left shoulder.

7. Press into your hands to help open your chest.

8. Take 3-5 breaths, then repeat on opposite side.

Benefits

• Strengthens and stretches the legs, knees, and ankles
• Stretches the groins, spine, chest and lungs, and shoulders
• Stimulates abdominal organs
• Increases stamina
• Improves digestion and aids elimination
• Improves balance

Tadasana Tuesday: Yoga Pose of the Week - Pincha Mayurasana

Pincha Mayurasana Yoga Pose of the Week!

Also Known As  Forearm Stand/ Peacock Feather Pose

Prenounced   (pin-cha my-your-AHS-anna)

What does it mean?

piñca = feather
mayura = peacock

How do you do it?

1. Come to the wall.

2. Bring the forearms and palms flat against the floor.

3. Bend the elbows, bringing the upper arms perpendicular to the forearms.

4. Come up into Downward Facing Dog with the legs.

5. Walk the feet in toward the hands as much as possible.

6. Bend one knee and begin to kick up with the opposite leg.

7. Note that the head stays up off the floor. The gaze should be down at the floor.

8. If you are able to get both legs up and invert fully, begin to work on taking the feet off the wall and balancing independently.

9. Come down and rest in Child’s Pose.

Beginners: Props can be very helpful in this pose.

First, place a block at the wall. Make an “L” shape with the thumbs of each hand (the left hand will be a backwards “L”). Place the hands around the block so that the thumbs are on the front of the block and the forefingers are on the sides with the palms flat on the floor.

Straps are also helpful. Adjust the strap so that the loop is as wide as your shoulders. Slide the loop onto your arms just above the elbow to keep the arms from splaying out to the sides.

Advanced: Once you can get up using the props, begin to try this without the props. Make sure that the elbows stay in line with the shoulders and do not splay out to the sides. If you become very comfortable doing the pose at the wall, begin to attempt to move into the center of the room.

Benefits

• Strengthens the shoulders, arms, and back
• Stretches the shoulders and neck, chest, and belly
• Improves sense of balance
• Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression

Freedom Day RAW Uncookout Potluck (with yoga) Recap

A Photo Recap

When: July 4, 2012

Where: Alexandria, VA

What: RAW Vegan Potluck (with Yoga!)

Hosted by Humbly, Peax & Love and Ashley Pharr!

Our lovely host - Ashley Pharr, Cherae Mabry - our yoga instructor for the afternoon, and Oshun Love
Take notice to the fresh seeded watermelon juice in the back! YUM!



Johnee' and Brooke repping the HPNL Apparel T-Shirts




OF COURSE we started off with Yoga in the sun! No eating at least 2 hours before yoga :)





Johnee' in Crow. Get it!




Preparing for Savasana

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





The Feast: RAW Zucchine Crab Cakes, Tropical Plaintains, Carrot "Sweet Potato" Bites, "Shrooms"

Cucumber Slices with RAW vegan ranch, Sweet and Spicy Broccoli Salad, Carrot "Sweet Potato Pie" bites, etc..

The tropical plaintain was SO GOOD! Thanks Kwame!

Morrocan Gazpacho by Cherae, Nut Meat Pate' behind it. Delish!

Guacamole Star Pie :)

Let us never forget this delicious RAW Vegan Lasagna. This was the life of the party!

The lovely Brittany Singleton showed face and made RAW Banana Ice Cream for dessert (not pictured)

And Ashley matched her with RAW Ninja Turtles and a Coconut Banana Creme Pie!

The RAW Food Family :) We ended the event with laughing, music, dance, and more yoga! What an amazing turnout. We must do it again!

Find Your Flow Friday: Yoga as a Science

One of my favorite "pundits" without politics, Pantanajali. I offer this accessment of Yoga as Science.

Yoga is not a religion-remember that. Yoga is not Hindu, it is not Islam or Christian or Judaism . Yoga is a pure science just like mathematics, physics or chemistry. Physics is not Christian physics is not Buddhist. If Christians have discovered the laws of physics, then too physics is not Christian. Yoga is a science -- it is "happenstance" that Hindus uncovered it. It is not Hindu. It is a pure mathematics of the inner being. So a Mohammedan can be a yogi, a Christian can be a yogi, a Jain, a Jew can be a yogi.

Yoga is pure science, and Patanjali is the greatest name as far as the world of yoga is concerned. This man is rare. There is no other name comparable to Patanjali. For the first time in the history of humanity, this man brought religion to the state of a science: he made religion a science, bare laws; no belief is needed.

  

Because so-called religions need beliefs. There is no other difference between one religion and another; the difference is only of beliefs. A Mohammedan has certain beliefs, a Hindu certain others, a Christian certain others. The difference is of beliefs. Yoga has nothing as far as belief is concerned; yoga doesn't say to believe in anything. Yoga says experience. Just like science saysexperiment, yoga says experience. Experiment and experience are both the same, yet their directions are different. Experiment means something you can do outside; experience means something you can do inside. Experience is an inside experiment.

Science says: Don't believe, doubt as much as you can. But also, don't disbelieve, because disbelief is again a sort of belief. You can believe in God, you can believe in the concept of no-God. You can say God is, with a fanatic 

attitude; you can say the quite reverse, that God is not with the same fanaticism. Atheists, theists, are all believers, and belief is not the realm for science. Science means experience something, that which is; no belief is needed. So the second thing to remember: 

Yoga is
 simultaneously existential, experiential, experimental.

No belief is required, no faith is needed -- only courage to experience. And that's what's lacking. You can believe easily because in belief you are not going to be transformed. Belief is something added to you, something superficial. Your being is not changed; you are not passing through some mutation. You may be a Hindu, you can become Christian the next day. Simply, you change: you change Gita for a Bible. You can change it for a Koran, but the man who was holding Gita and is now holding the Bible, remains the same. He has changed his beliefs.

Belief is easy because you are not required really to do anything -- just a superficial dressing, a decoration, something which you can put aside any moment you like. Yoga is not belief. That's why it is difficult, arduous, and sometimes it seems impossible. It is an existential approach. You will come to the truth, but not through belief, but through your own experience, through your own realization. That means you will have to be totally changed. Your viewpoints, your way of life, your mind, your psyche has to be shattered completely as it is. Something new has to be created. Only with that new will you come in contact with the reality.

(((INhale/Exhale))) absorb what is useful.... the discussion continues in our next edition. 

The Daily Om: Utthita Trikonasana/Extended Triangle Pose

Utthita = Extended
Tri = three
Kon = Angle
Asana = Pose, seat.

Metaphors & Corollaries:

• "When we extend our physical body while intending to extend our hearts, we awaken our own innate generosity from within. This intention of giving permeates every cell and tissue." Sharon Gannon
• With each side equaling the opposite, a balance of forces is created that we try to maintain in the asana, and in our lives.
• In asana when one aspect overwhelms the others, we are thrown out of balance and fall out of the posture. In the same way, in our lives, when one aspect is out of balance we fall down.
• Three Angle Pose parallels the triple aspects of birth (creation/Brahma), life (maintenance/Vishnu) & disolution or death (involution/Shiva).

Benefits:

• Triangle pose stimulates the vital body. The Kidney, digestive organs, and spleen are considered to be a source of light (the same belief is held in Chinese medicine).
• Lengthens thighs.
• Strengthens knees and ankles.
• Stimulates abdominal organs.
• Therapeutic for: anxiety, flat feet, infertility, neck pain, osteoporosis, and sciatica.
• Improves digestion.
• Alleviates symptoms of menopause.

Contraindications:

• With a heart condition, practice this pose with the head down, keeping top hand on hip
• If blood pressure is high, practice with head down.

Organize the Pose:

• Stand side-ways with feet 3.5-4 feet' apart. Torso & hips open, bellybutton same direction as the toes. Energize the legs, squeezing muscle to bone.
• Begin on the Right side. Right foot straight to the right keeping big toe, knee & thigh in line with each other.
• Right heel in line with the instep (beginner) or heel (advanced) of the opposite foot. Turn the Left heel inward a few degrees.
• Throughout the pose, equalize the weight in each leg, keeping them strong.
• Inhale as you life the arms out to the side, hands to shoulder height.
• Release the Left hip toward the back heel, as you reach forward through the right fingertips, creating as much length and space as possible until the body is parallel to the floor. Press into the outer edge of the back foot as you stretch forward, lengthening
• Release the left hand down, resting it on your left leg, or a block placed on the outside of the left shin.
• Opposite arm reaches up, as the right shoulder pulls back.
• Open through the heart, keeping the right arm in line with the nose. {Beginners tend to open the chest, and swing the arm back.} Reach straight up, lengthening your entire body.
• Keep shoulders in line with hips. {Beginners tend to collapse and round the shoulders. Place the hand higher onto the leg until the heart can open toward the sky}
• Anchor the big toe mound of the right foot into the earth by lifting the toes and feeling a strong connection through the feet. Press down into this.
• Squeeze the thigh muscles, which gently draws the kneecaps up. Externally rotate these muscles, spiral the inner thighs outward, away from each other. This is your base, keep it strong.
• Keep the big toe joint anchoring down into the floor.
• Scoop the tailbone down and under.
• Squeeze the buttocks bones together, rotating the top hip open, and tucking the bottom hip under.
• Notice the ribs. Try to create equality in both the top & bottom rib cage by contracting the upper ribs. This will lengthen the left side ribs.
• Feel a lengthening throughout the entire body.

Beginner:

• Use a block under your hand. Place the block on the outside of the shin. Adjust the height so that when in the pose, the hips and shoulders are in line with each other. The shoulders will collapse forward if the hand is too low.
• Stand with back foot against a wall. Press into the foot during the pose, and also when lifting up out of the pose. Teachers, use this with beginners when you notice they are lifting the outer edge of the back foot during standing poses.

Advanced:

• Extend top are over head, with internal rotation. This will lengthen the lower back muscles.
• Bind the pose. Reach the top arm around from behind the back, and grab opposite thigh.
  

Sequencing:

Lift up into Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)

Lift up into Virabhadrasana 2 (Warrior 2)

My favorite: Reverse Triangle (think Reverse Warrior, then keep the arms and straighten the legs) to Reverse Triangle. :-) 

Namaste.

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted."
Read more from her at http://lotusflowerwellness.blogspot.com