I AM Yoga Challenge Day 7: I am Capable
Today’s mantra is I am capable.
We’re tackling a fun, playful arm balance today because I want you to remember: even if you can’t fully get there, TRYING is still capable. A lot of times we place extraordinary value on an end goal instead of all the work we put in along the journey to get there.
This stops today. You have everything you need to get where you want to go and you’re capable of doing it.
Now let’s work the hips and hamstrings so we can try this arm balance! 😉
Enjoy!
Over to you! How’d it go?? Measure your “success” on whether you had fun or laughed at any point. That’s the real lesson 😉
[Free ebook] Stop worrying whether you’re doing a pose right, or if you are doing something that will eventually require a few trips to the emergency room. 🚑
Download our free yoga form guide — over 50 yoga poses broken down with pictures.
15 Comments
Marianne
January 8, 2017 at 6:00 amI never thought I would be this happy about making a pose 🙂 Really enjoy being happy about the small things in life and forgetting about everything else for a few minutes every day – thank you!
Moritz
January 8, 2017 at 8:02 amVery nice class! The topic was nicely transported, the pose well introduced.
One thing about the wrists though, i got from my contemporary dancing classes, where we dealt a lot with lifting ourselves, balancing and other stuff that puts pressure on the wrists:
It’s recommendable after such exercises to pull the hand a bit out from the wrists and then clench your hands into fists and lean on the knuckles for a few seconds to stabilize the wrists.
Thank you, i’m excited to see what we’ll do tomorrow!
Hanna
January 8, 2017 at 8:23 amOMG Erin, thank you so much for this one!!! The moment I saw a picture I thought oh f*** I’ve never been good at arm balance, this is my weak point, I have such weak arms etc. etc. The moment I entered this practice with nothing but the intention to keep the feeling that I am capable of at least trying, I actually did it!!! I know it’s not about achieving some final goal but this gave me such a strong boost of feeling that I really AM capable that I just started crying and laughing at the same time. This is just a wonderfull feeling! I take this mantra with me!
Kaitlyn
January 8, 2017 at 11:55 amThanks Erin, I had fun with this! I couldn’t lift my legs even an inch off the ground in this pose, but for some reason, it really cracked me up 🙂 thanks again for putting this together, I’m really enjoying it.
Marleen
January 8, 2017 at 12:01 pmI could do it! Although I couldn’t come out of it properly, I fell on my butt twice. But it made me laugh and I was just happy that I could hold for a pose like this a couple seconds! I think I’m going to put this one in my practise and try to hold it for a bit longer each time.
Nancy Briscoe
January 8, 2017 at 12:21 pmLoved the practice, tho no where near the pose. I do have a groin injury that I keep re tweeting, and a severe lordosis….not sure if these are the reasons why, but I also notice in many poses, like happy baby, that there is a fullness in the groin area that refuses to allow my quads to relax to rest on my torso, if you get my meaning. I do have pretty good flexibility, but this fullness is really an issue….any ideas? Thanks! Loving this challenge!
Cristy
January 8, 2017 at 2:55 pm“The journey matters just as much” I loved that, to think about capability as the ability to try and not to achieve. I am definately gonna keep this mantra and take it to heart: I am capable. Trying this pose was definately fun cause i did fall on my butt several times, but maybe one day i will be able to hold and balance on my arms.
Isa
January 8, 2017 at 3:17 pmOh my gosh. I fell over on my butt several times (fortunately stuck a cushion there ahead of time!). I managed to get my legs up on my arms and into some semblance of the pose for about three seconds, and I definitely laughed, so I consider it a success. One problem I noticed right off the bat, was that I could not seem to bend my wrists to get my palms flat on the ground, once I had walked my hands six inches or so behind my legs. I had to have them almost right behind my feet to get them to bend so that my hands were flat on the floor, otherwise I felt too uncomfortable to put all my body weight back onto my fingers (as that was all that was touching the floor when I had my hands six inches or so behind my legs!). Any ideas for how to get better at this pose, because it still seems like fun to me? Maybe I need to work on more wrist flexibility. Not giving up!
Lou
January 9, 2017 at 9:45 pmI had this same exact hand issue! I would love some more tips on hand placement/how to get them flat on the floor; no idea whether it is just a flexibility issue or a trust issue or what.
So I couldn’t get this pose, but this class still made me feel super capable. I have a knee injury that’s been keeping me from doing a LOT of things because I’m afraid of making it worse, so every time I try to do things like squats I’m amazed at how much better I am at them than I think I am. (So it’s also possible that my issue with this pose may have been I wasn’t squatting deeply enough.)
Lorrianne
January 10, 2017 at 1:36 pmI couldn’t do the pose at the end, my arms didn’t feel like they were in the right place or something. Erin, you make it look so easy. This class was incredibly fun. The mantra is great and helped me through today’s class actually!
Sarah
January 8, 2017 at 3:45 pmI love these, and I am loving Tier 2 of PBYP also! I only have one request for future videos – any chance you can wear a lighter. differently colored pair of leggings so there is a clearer contrast between your legs and the mat and couch behind you? I am generally not much of a fashion police person… it’s just that on both my computer (sitting on my desk, tilted down toward my mat on the floor) and with my phone, the matching dark colors blur into one solid mass. When I already know what you’re doing it’s not a problem, but when it’s something new I can’t always figure it out based on where your seemingly free floating feet have ended up. 😉 THANKS!! PBYP was a crucial part of my recovery from a broken leg this summer!!
Tiffany
January 8, 2017 at 11:52 pmUnfortunately I was not able to make the pose; but I did try! Until I felt like my wrists were going to give out hahaha. This is something that I will eventually get with more practice and trying. Thank you again for another great class!
Stephanie
January 9, 2017 at 12:10 amAlmost counts in yoga, I guess! I got into the pose, but couldn’t get my feet off the ground, only soles together. I did laugh at myself in the wide leg forward bend – I need to do some work there! 🙂
Trying to Yoga
January 9, 2017 at 3:05 amUnfortunately this one backfired for me. Part of my day already made me feel not capable, followed by no way that I could get into this pose (and also not wanting to risk damaging my back again by jarring it trying to) led to feeling incredibly not capable and crying in frustration.
V
January 9, 2017 at 5:47 amI let this one get to me too much. Chalk it up to my perfectionism; if I can’t do something straight away, I get annoyed with myself. This left me feeling a little despondent at first; like why can’t I even get on my arms, why am I doing it wrong? Why can’t I do it, why are my hamstrings and legs still so tight after years of (admittedly sporadic) practice? Then in the end I thought, well let go of that, and just try, if it doesn’t happen this time, just work on the strength-building and flexibility and try again. So, I’m going to continue stretching and practicing and one day I’ll come back to this pose a little stronger and maybe even be able to do it. But at least I’m learning now that just because I can’t do it right no, that’s no reason to give up.