So after warming up with some Sun Salutations, core work, and twists, get right down to the business of Side Crane.

1.  Squat down and place your hands shoulder width apart, fingers spread, palms flat

2.  Twist your knees to the side and create a strong connection between your knee and your upper arm

3.  Shift the weight forward into your hands, engage your core, and lift your feet up, keeping your arms straight and your hip OFF of your other arm!

4.  Breathe!  Can you stay for 5 breaths?

5.  Repeat on the other side and balance out your body

Once you have mastered this version, you can keep stepping to the next level by going back to each Side Crow Variation and practicing it this time with straight arms.  There is never an end to the growth!

Happy Flying!

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Stay tuned for updates on local Seattle and East side yoga studios opening soon!

1. Warm up with some Sun Salutations and twists at the very least

2. Practice moving from Crow to Chaturanga

3. Practice Side Crow and extended variation 1 & 2

4. If you want a safety net, place a pillow in front of your face

5. Just go for it!  I recommend starting with the scissors version of Side Crow (I don’t make the other variation look quite so easy!), and don’t forget to squeeze your elbows against the sides of your body for a solid Chaturanga.

If your Side Crow variations are strong and you can effortlessly float from a regular Crow to Chaturanga, but you are having significant problems floating into Chaturanga from Side Crow, begin with the foundational Side Crow pose.

1. From Side Crow/Parsva Bakasana keep the knees bent

2. Lift from your core and keep the core engaged to protect your spine!

3. Keep your focus slightly out in front of you, not straight down or where your feet will land

4. Send energy exploding out through your legs, squeeze your elbows in and land lightly in chaturanga

5. Smile… you did it!

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Enter your Side Crow as usual, making sure to secure your lower leg high on your upper arm.

Next extend your lower leg straight out, keeping the top leg bent momentarily.  Then extend your top leg straight back.  BREATHE!

Tips for successful execution

1.  Be present… enuf said

2.  As you extend the top leg back, you will have to shift more weight forward to find balance.  If you are unsteady, consider placing a pillow in front of your face… protect your neck.

3.  Believe in yourself!  Corny?  Maybe… the video certainly is!  But oh so true.  Keep practicing until you can be in the pose and breathe freely.

Related videos

Take Your Side Crow Up a Notch

Twisting Into Side Crow

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Please be sure to warm up with some Sun Salutations and some gentle twists, and definitely warm up your hips and core to avoid muscle cramps. If you haven’t yet mastered your Side Crow, go back and practice it more before attempting to extend. Listen to your body and know when to say NO!

Tips for extending

1. This variation may make you a little top heavy, meaning the balance is a little more challenging. I recommend placing a big pillow in front of your face to protect your neck in case of tippage!

2. When you enter your Side Crow, set your knee high up on the center of your tricep muscle as opposed to your elbow.

3. If extending both legs is too challenging at first, practice extending one leg at a time. It is easier to extend the top leg than it is the bottom leg. So master extending the top leg, then master extending the bottom leg… and then give both legs a go!

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Stay tuned for another Side Crow Variation next week!

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Don’t forget to warm up with some Sun Salutations and some gentle twists, then go for it with presence and compassion.

The Steps

1. Squat down, feet together on the balls of your feet.

2. Place palms flat, shoulder width, fingers spread, middle finger points straight ahead.

3. Turn your knees all the way to the right, bend your arms, create a solid connection between the left knee and the right elbow and the left hip and the left elbow.

4. Bend your arms, shift the weight into the hands and lift the feet up, letting your head move closer to the floor.

5. Lengthen your neck, focus your eyes, and breathe!

Balance out your body and practice the other side too

Stay tuned till next week when we’ll explore some side crow variations!

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You must first master your Crow or Crane pose as well as have a strong Chaturanga!!!

If you haven’t, go back and practice Sun Saluations A, Flying Lessons and Flying in Crow. When you have mastered your Crow and have developed a solid Chaturanga, then you can entertain the experience of a flight from one to the other.

Strong core and upper body required!

Don’t forget to warm up first, especially your wrists, core and spine. I recommend at least a few rounds of Sun Salutations, and a few minutes of Bakasana (Child’s Pose), Malasana (Wide Squat) and Plank Pose. Mostly, I recommend a regular and consistent Vinyasa practice. Nothing can replace a beautiful mix of studio based classes with a teacher and your own innately driven flow.

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Leave me with your questions and comments below. If you don’t see the comment box, find it by clicking on the comment button to the left of the video, and the comment box will appear here at the bottom.

The truth is, while we may be predisposed to certain health outcomes due to our genes, the real reason we tend to suffer from the same symptoms and/or diseases as our parents is because we tend to develop the same habits. When we have the same habits inside of the same gene pool, there is a pretty good chance that we will suffer from the same miserable outcomes.

In this video, Dr. Dean Ornish talks about how very small changes in lifestyle can make big differences in a short amount of time in our picture of health… and change our gene expression!

Dr. Ornish rocks…

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Once you’ve mastered Crow Pose using the “shelf effect” of resting your shin bones on your triceps and balancing on your hands, you are ready to work on Crane Pose. These are really just variations of the same pose. As a matter of fact, there is a fantastic article at YogaJournal.com that teaches you to work into the straight armed version by first setting the shins on the triceps, balancing on the hands, and then straightening the arms. I find that there is a more solid foundation when I have my knees solidly connected into my armpits with arms straight from the beginning… my choice. Practice it both ways and decide which way delights you more… and why not master them both?

Preparing for Crane

Make sure you are warmed up before practicing Crane Pose. I recommend a few rounds of Sun Salutations at the very least, with a Child’s Pose and a Wide Squat to prepare the hips. Practicing your Crow Pose is a great way to prepare your wrists and the rest of your body, but don’t tire yourself out.

The Steps

1. Start with feet hip width, hinge forward from the hips and place the hands on the floor at shoulder width, palms flat, fingers spread, middle finger pointing straight ahead.

2. Rise up onto the balls of your feet and bend your knees, pressing your knees right up into your armpits, creating a solid connection between the arms and the legs.

3. Shift your weight into your hands until you can lift your feet off the floor. Bring your toes to touch and heels toward your hips.

4. Press firmly down through your arms while your lift through your core and round your spine. Focus your eyes.

5. Breathe! Work up to 5 breaths… or more if you wish.

Benefits

Crane pose strengthens the wrists, arms and core, stretches the upper back, and helps to create flexibility in the hips and lower back. Courage and Confidence!

Tips

If your feet won’t quite leave the floor, start by standing on a block or other height to give you a boost. If this is really hard on your wrists, try curling your fingers a bit and use more hand strength.

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Questions? Comments? If you don’t see the comment box below, click on the comment button to the left of the video and the comment box will appear down here. Happy Flying!

So I have to admit… until a couple of months ago I had only heard of Guy Kawasaki in passing, and that was only because my husband Darren, a serial entrepreneur, has an entrepreneurial-crush on him. Guy’s name began entering our conversations several times a day as Darren began to plot his secret plan of having Guy as an adviser for his Venture Capital firm. I had to fight back many rolls of the eyes as Darren talked about ‘Guy Kawasaki’ as if he was the leader of the free world. OK, OK, I’m exaggerating quite a bit here, but it’s kind of like someone talking about the star quarterback of a football team that they admire when you are more interested in the ballet.

…and then he introduced me to Alltop

I have always loved to read, write, and coach, and I found (after much pushing from Darren) that blogging - especially video blogging with some yoga videos - blended all of my favorite things together. Darren led me to Alltop, an aggregate of the best blogs on a vast array of different subjects. I am totally addicted.

My favorite Alltop blog categories - Yoga, Travel, Good, Green, Speaking, and Tea!

So I’m addicted to Alltop and the fabulous blogs I have found there… All of my favorites, all in one place! Long story short, mine is there now too thanks to Guy. And thus I have joined Darren’s Guy Kawasaki cult and am reading his blog, and his books! I am loving The Art of the Start… I don’t think it matters what you are starting, so many things from this book apply.

And this is how Guy Kawasaki and Alltop are changing the world!

Part of being a Motivated (aspiring) Yogi lies in not getting lost in the ancient wisdom of yoga, but using that ancient wisdom and the lessons learned from yoga practice in the modern world - both for making ourselves better and in turn creating a better, united world. So we must be ‘in the know’ in the modern world in order to apply yogic wisdom in the modern world, and for those of us who don’t read the paper and don’t watch the news, Alltop does this for us. My husband and I watch CNN on occasion, but let’s face it - it is pretty one-sided. You can scan and read the latest on many different topics at Alltop, and at the very least if you just want to immerse yourself in more yoga, you can find all the best yoga blogs at Alltop as well as related topics in the Good and Green categories. If you haven’t been there by now, what are you waiting for?

And really, I have ulterior motives…

After reading Guy’s blog, I am plotting my own secret plan of being at the next BlogHer party for women bloggers at Guy’s house! Seriously, how powerful would it be to connect with so many magnificent women in one place? Which is why I chose this video for this blog… I am looking forward to meeting the “Hugh Hefner of female bloggers!”

This is a photo from the Kirtsy (”Digg for chicks”) and Alltop (”aggregation without aggravation”) pre-BlogHer party, lifted from Guy’s Blog. No I wasn’t there, but next year…

Buy them from TOMS Shoes - Shoes for Tomorrow!

I watched this video and was immediately driven to buy shoes… OK, I will admit that I have an innate drive to buy shoes that I practice denying on a daily basis, but I admire them and sometimes salivate over them as well. I am on a mission to practice more conscious consumerism, supporting conscious businesses that are giving back to humanity. Blake, the founder of TOMS Shoes, gives us the opportunity to buy shoes AND give back. This makes me feel really good about buying shoes!

For each pair of shoes you buy, a pair of shoes will be donated to a child.

Since 2006, TOMS has given over 10,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina and 50,000 shoes to children in South Africa through the purchases of their customers. This year TOMS plans to give over 200,000 pairs of shoes to children around the world. The photos below were borrowed from their website showing their 2008 shoe drop to South Africa.

Pics from tomsshoes.com

I am really into the idea of taking care of the world’s children! So if you are looking for a pair of shoes to kick around in this summer, consider buying TOMS shoes and donate a pair to a child in need. And if you really want to get involved, join them on a shoe drop. Visit the site to apply.

And not just shoes to kick around in on the boat this summer…

Check out the sexy wrap boot soon to be released! I look forward to pulling on a pair of TOMS when these fabulous boots are released. Not only will I enjoy the act of stalking these boots, but I will know that when I pull them on, I have given to a child.

How are you giving back? Let me know by commenting below!