plankety plank plank

It seems a rash of little breakthroughs is sweeping through yoga school this week. Mine has to do with plank position and, specifically, how this position transitions into chaturanga dandasana. Plank, I'd thought, I was reasonably comfortable in, and I had assumed that my struggles with chaturanga were simply a result of my upper arm strength, or rather, my lack of it. While this is partly true, two simple observations recently have forever changed both of these poses for me!

First, I had not realized that I was not using my legs effectively, or that I was not flexing my feet sufficiently to really activate this pose. Those small changes turned on my abdominals in a way I had never previously engaged them, dramatically changing the pose (and I have the sore abs to show for it). But the big breakthrough was what came next: in order to transition from plank into chaturanga one must shift the position. This might mean shifting the feet significantly forward on the toes, or perhaps moving the position of the hands down, or stepping the feet in, or all of the above-- and that it is OKAY to do this!!

Until I watched my teacher Lisa Mae transition from one pose to the next *without* making these adjustments, I had not realized how awkward it was and how much more difficult I had been making it for myself. It was positively awful to watch. Then she did it again, shifting her feet, and her arms magically aligned and the pose looked effortless. It will not, at this point, look or feel effortless to me, but now I can actually work toward building the strength to be able transition from plank to chaturanga in one straight line because I can now access the pose and the correct alignment. It's amazing! I'm still on my knees for this, but now I can practice the pose and it isn't so frustrating and demoralizing! It's like a whole new world has opened as a result of this tiny change.

It also makes me want to practice chaturanga with this lovely assist, as demonstrated here by the amazing dawn jansen.