More Personal Practice Notes...

After today practice with the girls. Not only am I not using my legs, but my arms, especially the triceps, fail to work in the poses. Just like the shins, the elbows are overflexible and make the thighs and arms slack. Before getting into Uttita Trikonasana, stand a little while longer with the legs spread apart and the arms outstretched. Bring my attention to the forearms and triceps. Face the palms up, toward the ceiling. This action engages those parts of the arms. Face the palms down again and while moving into the pose, keep this action of the arms. Fall into the pose. This is more helpful because my tendency is to just immediately fall into the pose and then work on perfecting it, whereas I should have it perfected even before falling into the pose and perfecting it, in the slightest. I do this in class and notice I am far behind everyone else because in class, we need to fall into the poses. Also, when in Uttitha Trikonasana, try facing the lower hand out to engage the triceps, like in Headstand. {A note on Headstand, pull the arms closer to the wall.}

I am told that I tighten my abs and diaphram in my poses. Why I am doing this? What can I do to loosen the grip?

Practice really basic poses like Tadasana with arms raised above the head. Also, look at the poses I'm good at and ask, "Why is this easy for me? What can I do to make it more difficult? What other muscles can I work on/ am neglecting? Why are the muscles working in this pose, but not in the others?"