There is a reason teachers like to hold students in standing poses such as Side Angle, although it is not as sadistic as it may seem! Standing poses not only strengthen your legs, they also strengthen your ability to stand for yourself. Longer holds are a great place to witness inner doubts that tend to arise when we are faced with challenge. And more importantly, a great place to learn how to override those reactive uncertainties and to instead practice believing in yourself. For example, when you are asked to hold Extended Side Angle Pose for five more breaths and you witness yourself think, Ugh, I need to come out, this is the perfect opportunity to practice a different inner dialogue. Instead, recognize your strength and respond compassionately by saying quietly, “You got this.”
Warrior 1 is a particularly good pose to practice recognizing your strength because so many discordant actions happen. If we doubt ourselves, it is easy to feel pulled in those different directions. For example, we are asked to bend our front knee, but we must also pull the front hip back. Or we are asked to wrap the back hip forward, but we must also remember to press the back thigh back. By acknowledging these forces yet continuing to stay connected to our center, Warrior 1 teaches us compassion for ourselves and how to believe in our strength. Lastly, the arms reaching overhead qualifies as a power pose, which is a body position that has been shown to increase confidence.
The most courageous thing we can do is open our hearts. Dolphin helps you expand into all four sides of your heart by opening both the shoulders and the upper back. This inversion preparation is also a great place to learn how to get comfortable with a new perspective—seeing yourself through a different lens takes practice. Going upside down literally turns your world upside down, and it helps you get more comfortable with this new way of viewing the world and yourself. Dolphin helps build physical strength via the support of the upper arms and shoulders and creates flexibility as you seek to carve out space in your upper back. This translates to also building mental strength and flexibility.
Belly-backbends, such as Locust Pose, are a great place to learn to have your own back. In this group of postures, we move against gravity, which helps to strengthen the backside of the body, literally fortifying your ability support yourself. Salabhasana also teaches us faith and perseverance. The key to finding space and calm in Locust Pose is not to strain against gravity and burn yourself out within the first few breaths (like forcing through life out of fear). Instead, settle into the breath and work with it. Every inhale helps to create a lift, however most exhales will then pull you back down. This is a real-time lesson in trusting in the process and, most importantly, your own strength.