#Repost @love.yoga.99 ・・・ 💃 #Natarajasana ↔ #LordoftheDancePose or #KingDancerPose with @catvaladezyoga ・・・ #IMPROVEYOURPRACTICE Have you been struggling with flipping your grip in backbends like #natarajasana? It isn't easy, mainly because at a certain point it requires a deeper backbend getting into it than when you're finally in the pose. Take your time with this one. Lots of shoulder and hip flexors opening, balance focus, and warm back. Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to work it!⠀ .⠀ PREP: working mermaid (mer... person?) variation will help you gauge whether you're ready. Bring this into play as often as possible when building toward this, and over time you'll notice a certain depth and comfort which is the signal that you're ready to progress.⠀ .⠀ STEP 1: Foot tray. This requires a lot of external rotation of the whole arm. Start in one handed dancer (the other hand can hold a wall), flip your palm up and almost in (thumb in, pinky out) and FLEX your lifted foot, sole to the sky, to grip the inner edge and top of the foot. Like you're holding a tray, but its your foot. ☡ Crucial step then is to INHALE once you have your foot as you kick it back and stick out your chest forward.⠀ .⠀ STEP 2: As you EXHALE, draw the foot in by bending your arm and bringing your elbow down and in toward your hip, beginning to turn your chest a little more forward.⠀ .⠀ STEP 3: Continue rotating your chest forward, and as you INHALE, rotate your elbow (which was down low from the last step) OUT away from your body and UP toward the sky. From there slowly sweep the other arm overhead and back to grip your opposite elbow or wrist and work your way to the foot (deepening here is always a work in progress). Elbows wrap in and up.⠀ .⠀ FINAL STEP: gripping the foot, and balancing, continue bringing shoulder blades together to open the upper back as you lift the back inner knee high without lifting that hip. Keep the chest pointing forward and find the counter balance. ••• #practiceyogachangeyourworld #yogajourney #yogafriends #coreyoga #findwhatfeelsgood #myyogajourney #yogapose #yogahigh #yogini #handstand #dailyyogapose #gapfit #yogaeverydamnday #yogastrong #yogateacher #i https://www.instagram.com/p/B16aKWWjA9b/?igshid=1ekmn8u7rb0z9