kleigh

Yes, I am a woman 😉

I do attempt to lock out my arms in Half Moon, etc but usually cannot fully lock out my elbows (without shrugging up my shoulders – I used to do this but have been reading your book and emails and have since been working on keeping them down and back, it definitely makes breathing easier but has also shown me just how tight I am in the shoulders/arms). I would say I am 90% of the way there with my right arm and occasionally able to lock out my left.

I’m able to wrap and hold hands in eagle but it’s somewhat painful, and very difficult to get the arms down much – usually they are in front of my nose instead of below it when I enter the pose. Sometimes I’ve had shoulder cramping as I hold the pose as well.

I can get my hands onto my hips with the fingers down in Camel but not get my arms behind myself – my elbows stick out at my sides. I cannot reach both feet at the same time – when I reach down for one I inevitably find myself twisting my torso to reach – if I do grab one foot my other arm cannot move down and back enough to grasp the other. I’ve stopped trying to reach down in the pose for now and am trying to focus just on the backwards bending, but it still feels like a tight band across the front of my shoulders in this pose that’s very uncomfortable/painful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer! I am very excited to be back to my practice and want to be sure I’m doing everything I can to stay motivated and uninjured while I transition back into it.