Not this crow… more like chicken. With a dang heavy bottom.
Why is it called Flying crow? ( Eka Pada Galavasana : see pose here ) I often wondered…
Why not flying dove or flying falcon or flying sparrow? 
There must be a trick to get the back leg lifted up despite the bottom… in today’s Heeboon’s Hatha 2 class, he asked us not to go into Chaturanga hands… erm… but just shift the weight forward. He mentioned about the prana and apana, the balance of 2 forces in this pose. Prana is the upward force and Apana the downward force. I found this interesting article on Prana and Apana at this page and here’s a quoted paragraph :
“In yoga, prana is of primary importance. With the practice of pranayama the yogi directs the flow of prana downwards toward the pelvic plexus, where it mixes with apana, the air which resides in the lower intestines. When prana and apana flow together through sushumna - the central passage of the spinal column - to the top of the head, the experience of samadhi takes place, which is the goal of all yogic practice.”
hmm… not really sure what exactly it meant… i think i need another ten years more to truly grasp the whole enchilada of being a true yogi. First thing first… how to fly….like a crow…
I shifted the weight towards the hands and the back leg (engaged) was even in tippy toes but still unable to float up. My crow needs to cut down on chocolates and do more ashtanga perhaps…
The class today seems to be a hamstring torture day… we did standing split today ( Prasarita Eka Padasana ) which I love. The key to getting the pose I find is to “flont” your lifted foot ( the in-between of pointing your toes and flexing your feet - or pushing out the balls of your foot instead of the toes - spread the toes ). Think extending your leg up and keeping your body close to your standing leg. AND REMEMBER TO BREATHE. ( this I find extremely important… once i can breathe slowly and evenly, I can extend further and maintain balance ). Once you are stable enough, then you shift the hand ( the hand on the same side as your standing leg ) to hold the ankle of the standing leg.
Of course, Heeboon added a further variation… to have both hands in nasmate while maintaining the lifted leg. The balancing was sooo difficult…
I definitely need more practice…
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