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august 2017yogajournal.comTHREETHREE Keep your inner thighs
glued together and inter-
nally rotated when both
legs are up. To do this,
imagine someone put
a $100 bill between your
thighs and if you hold onto
it, you can keep it.Don’t let your shoulders move in
front of your elbows—a common
mistake practitioners make as
they hop one leg up. Move slowly
to keep your shoulders stacked
above your elbows as you bring
your legs into the air.PINCHA MAYURASANA
Forearm Balance
Not only is this a great pose for building upper-
body strength, but it also gives you a taste of
what it feels like to stack your shoulders above
your elbows, your hips over your shoulders, and
your feet over your hips. Once you understand
this stacking of the joints, you’ll find it easier to
straighten your arms and come into Handstand.HOW TO From Dolphin Pose, lift one leg up,
return to the starting position, and then lift up
the other leg. As you do this, keep both of your
inner thighs moving toward the space behind
you (internally rotated). The next time you have
one leg up, shift your gaze forward and look at
a point between your hands. Then, lift high onto
the ball of your standing-leg foot and hop just
an inch or so off the ground. Next, hop the same
foot a little higher off the mat, maybe all the way
up so that leg is stacked over the hip. Bring your
other leg up to meet it for the full expression of
Pincha Mayurasana. Keep in mind, you shouldn’t
use momentum to launch yourself up into this
inversion. The goal is to float one leg up, and then
the other, and when you’re ready to come down,
to land lightly and with control. If you can move
slowly and land your foot with control during
your initial one-legged hops, it’s a sign you’re
ready to come up into the full inversion.