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Yoga in the Skies (Airplane Yoga)

by Ram

Evening Sky by Melina Meza

A long-distance trip may be in the offing for me and may involve “crossing the seven seas” as they refer to travel to Asia. I dread airline travel, especially if it involves sitting for more than five hours on a seat that is generally 17-18 inches wide with hardly any space between my knees and the seat in front of me. Added to the butt and knee discomfort, I have to deal with stiff hips, a strained back, swollen ankles and feet and finally a jet lag that just refuses to cease. Frequent trips to India and other long distance places in the past few years have become so uncomfortable that I needed to make my airline travels more memorable by reducing the hazards of prolonged sitting from long-distance travel. So I have resorted to doing—you guessed right—what I call “yoga in the skies,” yoga poses that stretch my calves, hips, knees, low back and hamstrings among other muscles.

As soon as the seat belt sign is turned off, I begin my practice. Since I often have fluid accumulation in my heels, I begin with simple stretches to increase the circulation in the periphery and later move to more advanced poses depending on the availability of space inside the aircraft. Let me share my practice and you are welcome to comment on it:

1. Seated Knee to Chest: Keeping one foot flat on the floor, lift the other leg and using both palms draw your knee to your chest. Keep your shoulders relaxed throughout the pose. This is a very good pose to stretch your hips and knees as well as strengthen your back and chest. Bringing your knee towards your chest also stimulates your abdomen, thus improving the digestive fire. Hold for 30- 45 seconds. Then repeat with the other leg.

2. Seated Ankle-Knee: Keeping one foot flat on the floor, lift the other foot and place the ankle on top of the resting thigh and closer to the knee. Make sure you have enough room to drop the raised leg and knee to the side without disturbing your neighbor. Flex your foot, squeeze and spread your toes as though you were about to push the other neighbor (assuming you are sandwiched between two travelers). This helps to open the hip and give a really good stretch around the butt and hip. If you wish to get a deeper stretch, lean forward a little and place your forearms on top of your legs. If you are seated in the aisle seat, be mindful of the drinks cart! Hold for 30-45 seconds. Then repeat the pose with the other leg.

3. Seated Side Twist: Be sure to twist every so often to improve circulation especially through your lower back. This is especially beneficial when you have 8-14 hours of continuous travel time ahead of you. While on your seat, plant your feet on the floor and place your left hand on the outside of your right knee and twist to the right. If there is a provision to move your hands back, you can to deepen the twist by taking your right hand to the back of the seat. Initiating the twist from the bottom of your spine, include your head and neck in the twist. Sport a smile so you don’t surprise your neighbor. Hold for 30-45 seconds. Then repeat the pose on the other side.

After completing those initial stretches at your seat, it’s now time to take a walk. Go to the far end of the airplane where you will encounter more space near the lavatory.

4. Shoulder and Chest Stretch: Standing near the aisle wall near the bathroom, raise your hands with both arms outstretched until your hands meet, then interlace your fingers (palms facing either down or up), and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Look up and lift your chest. You can even try stretching your arms away from the ears. Be in this position for about 30 seconds.

Then facing the bathroom wall, about six inches away from the wall, unlace your hands and place them on the wall. If your shoulders are tight, you may need to angle your arms slightly up the wall. Stay in this pose for 30 seconds.

From there, gently lower your hands on the wall so they are at either shoulder height or slightly below. Press your hands firmly into the wall and then walk your feet away from the wall, until your hips are positioned over your feet and your arms are straight. This would be a Downward-Facing Dog at a higher altitude. Stay in the pose 30-45 seconds and then walk toward the wall to come out, finishing by position your hips over your feet.


5. Tree Pose: Using the same wall by the bathroom for balance if needed, place the sole of one foot against the inner thigh of your other leg and raise your arms over your head to open up tight hips and relieve any lower back pain. You may get some stares or be judged but I simply ignore everyone and just practice!

6. Other Poses: Some airlines have nearly three feet of space between the last row of seats and the kitchen wall at the rear end of the aircraft. I find this space just sufficient to practice my Warrior poses, squats and Standing Knee to Chest pose. (See also Standing Shoulder Stretches and Opening Tight Shoulders). Now if they increased that floor space, I could defy gravity by attempting head- and handstands, perfect poses after periods of prolonged immobility to prevent deep vein thrombosis (blood clot) from setting.

Come back to your seat after you are stretched completely and end the session with few rounds of breath work/pranayama

7. Pranayama: In my opinion, it is very safe to do some pranayama techniques in an airplane owing to the high-quality air filters and a pressurized-temperature controlled cabin that releases a defined percentage of oxygen. I find solace in a 15-minute Ujjayi and Alternate Nostril (Anuloma Viloma) pranayama workout.

Without any doubt, if we resort to these few simple in-flight yoga poses and breath work, it will make air travel a better experience. Furthermore, I am thankful to those airport administrators who are catering to yoga practitioners like me by creating yoga studios for passengers in transit. How about going one step farther? How about if long-distance flights create a private space preferably for passengers in the economy seating to stretch out completely without having to worry about neighbors or the carts? Surely, there must be air pilots or airline attendants subscribing to this blog who can put in a word on our behalf. Which airline will be the first to redo their interior space? 

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

My son and I were home alone on Sunday and had one of those super lazy days where we stayed in pajamas all day long and didn't leave the house.  What a nice treat complete with hard rainfall, cozy covers, and movies on t.v.  Around 11:00 a.m. I got up and threw together a simple slow cooker lentil soup and enjoyed the yummy aroma emanating from the crockpot throughout the afternoon.  It's really nice to know that dinner's cooking and you don't have to worry about it later- gives you more time in your day and something to look forward to that night.  

INGREDIENTS (from America's Test Kitchen)

• 2 medium onions , minced
• 4 medium garlic cloves 
• 2 TBS Extra-virgin olive oil (for serving, optional)
• 1TBS tomato paste 
• 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, soaked, rinsed and minced
• 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves , or 1 teaspoon dried
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 slices of bacon 
• 3 carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks 
• 12 ounces portobello mushroom caps, gills removed, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (I used sliced bella mushrooms)
• 1 cup brown or green lentils (1 cup), rinsed and picked over
• 1 bay leaf (not pictured)
• 8 oz. Swiss chard leaves only (I used collard greens) 

To maximize the flavor of the soup, I cooked the first few ingredients (onion, garlic, thyme, bacon, tomato sauce, porcini mushrooms) over the stove for about five minutes, but the recipe says you can have the same effect by microwaving those same ingredients for 5 minutes. 

Lentils are a great source of protein with about 3 grams of protein per tablespoon.

Stir both broths, bacon, carrots, fresh mushrooms, lentils and bay leaf into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low until the soup is thickened and the lentils are tender, 9 to 11 hours. (Alternatively, cover and cook on high for 5 to 7 hours.) 

When the soup has about 30 minutes left to cook, remove the bacon and bay leaf, and add in the chopped swiss chard (I used greens because my store was out of chard).  

At the end, season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle in a bit more olive oil.  I served ours with toasted French bread, but a healthier option would be to skip it or use whole wheat. 

* * * * * 

How to handle a dog attack

For most people, dog attacks are not very common. But they happen occasionally, and the experience can be traumatic. Incidentally, they are also a good reason why I am not a big fan of barefoot walking or running. Broken glass pieces and nails can be a problem if you are barefoot; so can dog attacks.

The photo below, from Dreamstime.com, shows a charging dog. It reminds me of an incident many years ago where a dog attacked my two oldest sons, who were very young at the time. They were unsuspectingly playing at a park in Southern New Jersey, when I saw a dog running in their direction across the park. Part of what I will say in this post is based on experiences like that.

I should also say that I grew up around dogs. My grandfather had a farm that was managed by my uncle, and dogs were critically important in managing the farm. One problem we had was that domesticated pigs would often become feral, or would mate with wild boars, in some cases leading to a particularly vicious breed of large feral pigs. I was once attacked by one of these feral pigs while hunting. One of the farm dogs came to my rescue and probably saved my life.



If you are like most people, when you go walking outdoors, you do not carry a walking stick or a cane. Maybe you should. But if you don’t, thick-soled sneakers can be used in a reasonably effective defense in a dog attack situation.

Dogs attacks’ main targets: The faces of children

Dogs tend to be loyal friends, but they must be monitored for signs of aggression, and can be particularly dangerous to children. A significant proportion of dog attack victims are children 5 years of age or younger, who more often than not sustain injuries to the face, with secondary target areas being the hands and feet ().

At the time of this writing the web sites Documentingreality.com and Arbtalk.co.uk had some grisly photos of dog attack victims (, ). They show evidence that the face is often targeted, and some possible consequences of real dog attacks.

Artificial selection: Dogs and Moby-Dick

Modern dogs are descendants of wolves who came into contact with humans about 12,000 year ago. (This general date is often cited, but is the subject of intense debate, with DNA studies suggesting much earlier contact.) Wolves are apex predators; this was true also for wolves that lived around the time they first came into contact with humans. They hunt and live in packs, and rely on fairly complex body language, a variety of sounds, and a keen sense of smell to communicate.

Even being apex predators, wolves were no match for humans. Therefore, as humans and groups of wolves co-evolved, dogs emerged. Dogs evolved instincts that made them sociable toward and submissive to humans, particularly those humans who fed them and also asserted authority over them – those become their “owners”.

Humans, in turn, came to rely heavily on dogs for protection and hunting, and probably evolved instincts that are still largely unexplored today. For example, there is strong evidence suggesting that having pet animals, many of which are dogs, is generally health-promoting (, ).

The evolution of sociability and submissiveness traits is an example of what is often referred to as “artificial selection”, where animals and plants evolve traits almost exclusively in response to the selection pressure applied by humans. In the case of dogs, this was later taken to new heights through selective breeding; leading to the emergence of a variety of dog breeds, some for utilitarian purposes and others for pure vanity, each with very distinctive characteristics.

Interestingly, artificial selection applied by humans does not always produce more sociable and submissive animals. The opposite happened around the mid 1800s due to excessive hunting of sperm whales. The least aggressive were easier to kill, so they were overhunted. Over generations, this placed selection pressure in favor of the evolution of aggressiveness toward humans. The attack on the Essex by a large bull sperm whale, which served as inspiration for Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick, was one of the first incidents that resulted from this selection pressure (). Whaling increased, and, predictably, attacks started becoming more and more frequent.

When a dog attacks, stand your ground in a non-threatening way

Dogs, like wolves, are territorial animals. Many dog attacks are likely motivated by humans invading what a dog perceives as its territory at a given point in time. I mentioned earlier in this post that a dog once attacked two of my children. They were playing at a park during the winter. Nobody else was there. I saw this large black dog running from a distance in their direction, and I immediately knew that it was trouble. The dog probably saw us as invading its territory.

Having grown up surrounded by dogs, I pretty much knew what to do. I walked toward my children and placed myself between them and the charging dog. I told the children not to move at all, just freeze. The dog came running until it realized that we were not running. It was a “fake charge”, like most are. It stopped close to me, and barked very aggressively, coming closer. I was wearing boots. I raised one of my boots toward the dog’s snout, and when it bit it, I pushed the boot against its snout.

Here is where I think most people would tend to make a key mistake. They would probably try to hurt the dog to scare it off, by, say, kicking the dog as they would kick a soccer ball. The problem is that, because the dog is a lot faster than they are, if they do that they may end up missing the dog entirely and worse - they may end up losing their balance and falling to the ground. This is when dogs can do the most damage, since they would go for the face of the fallen person.

As a side note, often you hear that dogs attack the throat of their human victims, but that is not what the statistics show. Most victims of dog attacks display injuries on the face and extremities. The "myth" that dogs target the throat is probably based on the notion that dogs attack humans because they see them as prey. However, with exception of feral dogs such as Australian dingos, evidence of dogs preying on humans is very rare. I've reviewed many dog attack photos for this post, and could not find one with evidence that the throat was targeted.

So I pushed my boot against the dog’s snout a few times, firmly but not with the goal of hurting the dog, and did not do anything threatening toward the dog otherwise. This calmed the dog down a bit, but it was still acting aggressively and would not go away. Sometimes firm commands to "seat", "stop", "go away" make the dog react submissively. I tried them but they didn't work; instead they probably made the dog more excited. Then I did what probably is the one thing that most land animals instinctively fear from humans …

Sapiens the thrower

I picked up a few pieces of ice from the ground and threw at the dog. One piece of ice hit the dog on the side of its body; a couple of others were glancing blows. As a result the dog became visibly confused and submissive (telltale sign: tail between the legs), and ran away. Here is where another big mistake may happen. People may try to hurt the dog and become too excited when throwing objects at it. In doing so, they may end up not only missing the dog with the flying objects that they are throwing, but they may also excite the dog, and face another attack.

The best approach here is to focus on having whatever you are throwing at the dog land on top of or as close to the dog as possible; explicitly without trying to hurt it, in part because this improves your aim. Having flying objects coming from you toward the dog is enough to trigger the dog’s instinct to get out of the way of “Sapiens the thrower”. Moreover, if you don’t try to hurt you’ll be relatively calm, displaying the type body language that will trigger submissiveness.

I’ve long suspected that throwing has been a key component of Sapiens’ climb to the top of the food chain, to the point that all land animals have an instinctive fear of humans – even large predators, and much bigger animals such as elephants (as long as they are not “in musth”). One short video has been circulating on YouTube for years; it has various hunting scenes where primitive spears are used (). Many find this video cruel. It clearly shows the enormous evolutionary advantage of humans being able to throw pointy things at other animals. If humans happened to live when Tyrannosaurus rex was around, there is no doubt in my mind that the latter would be the prey.

Keep your face away and your hands closed

Typically you’ll avoid a full-blown dog attack by only standing your ground for a while and not acting aggressively toward the dog. After a short standoff period, you’ll just walk away unharmed. Unfortunately this may not happen if you are facing a dog that has been trained to attack. In this case, having a stick or something like it will help a lot. (In circus acts lions are “pushed around” by trainers holding objects like sticks and wooden chairs; sometimes that doesn't end well - .) If you don’t have one it would be useful to be wearing shoes that can withstand several bites. If not, you can use a piece of clothing, such as a bundled jacket, as a shield.

If you have a stick, or something like a stick, you should not try to hit the dog with it. You should place it near the snout, and push the stick against it each time the dog bites. If you do this calmly and firmly, without trying to hurt the dog (remember, the dog is a lot faster than you are), you will probably discourage biting after a while, turning the attack into a standoff.

What if you don’t have anything with which to defend yourself at first, and a dog attacks you? Keep your hands closed into fists, to avoid having fingers bitten off, and do your best to keep the dog away from your face. As desperate as these situations may be, try to be calm and look for objects that you can use to push the dog away, that you can throw at the dog, or that can be used to wrap around your arms. Frequently there will be objects around that can be of use – e.g., sharp stones, glass bottles, pieces of canvas, loose pieces of a fence, a hose, a tree’s branch. If you fall, try to stand up right away. Very likely you'll sustain injuries to your arms, and possibly legs.

Military and law enforcement personnel are often trained on fighting techniques to handle dog attacks barehanded, such as neck cranks, sharp blows to the throat of the animal, and blinding techniques. I am not sure whether these would be really useful to the average person. In any case, this post is not aimed at military and law enforcement personnel who deal with dog attacks on a regular basis.

Eat beef liver

Beef liver is nature’s super-multivitamin. (Beef heart is just as nutritious.) Dogs, like wolves, have an exquisite sense of smell. If you have seen one of the documentaries about the groundbreaking research by Shaun Ellis (a.k.a., “The Wolfman”), you probably know that wild wolves tend to strongly associate consumption of organ meats with very high status in a pack, to the point that they will instinctively act submissively toward humans that consume organ meats. It is quite possible that dogs do that too. So if you eat beef liver, maybe a dog will “think twice” before attacking you.

Offer the dog a cigarette and a beer

Most dogs can become aggressive from time to time, but not dogs that know how to chill. Therefore, you may consider carrying special dog cigarettes and beer around - only some brands work! Okay, a clarification: the "eat beef liver" advice is not a joke, nor are the others above it.



Notes and acknowledgements

The “charging dog” photo is from Dreamstime.com. The “drunken dog” montage was created with photos from the blog Agrestemundica.

Cesar Millan's site has a number of good suggestions on how to handle dog attacks (). However, I personally think that the way he handles dogs (e.g., often with open hands) is dangerous if copied by an inexperienced person. There is a great deal of "hidden" information that is conveyed to dogs by nuances of Cesar's body language. Those nuances are difficult to copy by an inexperienced person.

An interesting source of information on how to handle dog attacks is the web site Fightingarts.com (, ).

Faith

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Friday Q&A: Scooping the Tailbone?

Q: I have heard that using the cue "scoop the tailbone" is passé, because people tend to over tuck their tailbones already. There is a class I attend where this cue is given A LOT—for tons of poses—tree, chair, etc. Is this cue "out" and is it ever appropriate? Thanks! Is there any research behind using or not scooping the tailbone? I tend to not. I hear point the pubic bone down.

A: This is a very relevant question, for, as our questioner points out, the concept of “scooping the tailbone” is being taught in many quarters. Certain modern yoga teachers, some with large followings, teach this as an important action when doing many poses.  And although I think there are certain circumstances in which this action (which anatomically would be called “retroversion” of the pelvis relative to the femur bones— more on that later!), is appropriate, I believe it is sometimes drastically overused.

In order to get a better idea of why I feel that way, you need to have an understanding of how the pelvis and sacrum, as a unit or team, are typically and most healthfully situated over the upper leg bones. In a person with good, even posture—meaning appropriate spinal curves in the lower back, rib cage and neck, and the head balanced over the torso,—the pelvic team has a slight forward tip on the leg bones, or “anteversion,” which can be seen from the side as the lumbar (lower back) arch moving forward toward the navel. Esther Gokhale, a yoga teacher and anthropologist, has pointed out by looking at indigenous peoples and ancient sculptures of human posture, our balanced posture has a slight forward tip of the pelvis, and the sacrum and buttocks stick back a bit, in what she refers to as the “duck butt.”

Woman Carrying Laundry
(from Wikimedia Commons)

On my travels to places like Bali and India, where I observed people carrying bundles on their heads regularly, this postural alignment was obvious. In these cultures, rates of lower back pain are extremely low. So, from this “ideal” orientation of the pelvis, we can surmise that scooping the tailbone, in such positions as Tadasana (Mountain pose), would encourage the opposite pelvic team movement, that being a backward rotation or retroversion of the pelvis. From a spinal health perspective, this will encourage flexion of the lumbar spine, or backward curve, which puts the lumbar discs in a more vulnerable position, far more prone to injury. 

Additionally, Judith Lasater points out in her book Yoga Body, that when we move into back-bending shapes, the part of the pelvis known as the sacrum follows that movement by anteverting a bit more than in neutral standing positions, just the opposite of the effect of “scooping the tailbone.” Conversely, when moving into forward folds, Judith notes that the sacrum goes into a bit of retroversion, which is the direction that an instruction such as “scoop the tailbone” would take you. But you don’t actually have to say that because the body does it almost automatically to keep the rhythm of such movements harmonious with the kinesthetic (movement) wisdom of the body. This movement of the sacrum has a fancy name in anatomy circles: “nutation” (which includes anteversion) and “counter-nutation” (which includes retroversion). This can get a bit confusing, like in the situation of going from Mountain pose to Standing Forward Bend, when the pelvic team is going into anteversion over the femurs (thigh bones) for most of the forward folding action, but the sacrum might be tipping back into a bit of retroversion relative to the right and left pelvic bones. If you want to get clearer on this, please check out Yoga Body for more details. Let’s suffice it to say that I don’t see the need for additional instruction of scooping in the vast majority of situations.

The exception to this general guideline occurs in yoga practitioners with a more exaggerated lower back arch or lumbar lordosis (sometimes called “hyperlordosis”). This is especially true if this situation results in pain the lower back for such a student. In these cases, I will sometimes encourage the slight retroversion of the pelvis by suggesting that he or she should draw the tailbone down to the floor. This tends to create a bit less retroversion than “scoop the tailbone” might, and can still allow for the lumbar area to have a smaller version of its normal curve. If this action results in improved symptoms, I will have them practice it more regularly.

The other exception would be in those with a particular kind of arthritis of the spine involving the posterior “facet joints” that lie in the back half of the vertebrae and come closer together when the spine goes into back-bending actions, known as “extension” between two vertebrae. By encouraging a bit of retroversion of the pelvic team in backbends, some students with facet arthritis in the lumbar area may be able to do a bit more back-bending without flaring their arthritis. In general, these practitioners would want to start with small, beginning level backbends anyway, and only advance if symptoms permit. There might be more exceptions, but these two are fairly common, so worth the mention.

Notice in your home practice or public classes this week what your pelvic team is up to and see if these ideas are true for you. I am sure there other ideas out there on this topic, so feel free to share you insights via our comments.

—Baxter

Fun Friday!

So- last week- this happened :) 

Then today this popped up in my FB feed.  I have never listened to the original (not my style or lyrics) and after the brouhaha that was going on about a month ago I knew why.  Anyway- this- well, this is just funny and I am quite taken with this version :)




Old school with Javy Lopez in it :)

You can read the article about it here.

Oh yeah- and Go Braves!

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Baked Fish in Parchment Paper // Fish en Papillote

Fish isn't necessarily one of my go-to meals, but I eat it because it's good for me and is a change from my typical diet.  One of the easiest ways I know to bake fish is in parchment paper.  En Papillote  (pah-pee-YOHT) means to steam small portions of food in a wrapper.

Most recipes I've seen for Fish en Papillote combine onion, zucchini, carrot and garlic.  You chop the veggies, season with olive oil and salt and pepper, and arrange them on top of your fish with sliced lemon slices and sprigs of thyme or other aromatics.  

Place all the ingredients on the parchment paper and fold the paper tightly to create a seal for the food to steam while cooking. Put the package on a baking sheet and cook at 375 until the fish is cooked through about 12 minutes. Then cut open the packets and serve directly on the paper or remove onto a plate with a spatula.

I recently used this method to cook salmon, but instead of the veggies above, added asparagus.  Because I didn't chop the asparagus before putting it in the packet, it wasn't quite ready in 12 minutes and I finished it off in a skillet over medium-high heat.  I only seasoned the fish with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.  Pretty good even if I'm not crazy about fish!

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Featured Pose: Chair Shoulderstand

by Nina

In her interview with us (see Judith Lasater on Yoga and Aging), Judith Lasater mentioned the poses that she currently practices, citing "especially Viparita Karanai (Legs Up the Wall pose), Supported Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) on the chair and Supported Halasana (Plow pose) on the Halasana bench." In my post Judith Lasater's Favorite Poses, I talked about these poses and why, even though they may be a little tricky to learn, they're so worth the effort. On Monday, I described Supported Halasana in detail. Today, at last, I'm going to tackle Chair Shoulderstand! To be honest, when you first learn how to do this pose, it is one of the most challenging to get in and out of. So I normally teach people how to do Chair Shoulderstand in person. But I think it's worth having the instructions and photographs showing the process for those of you who may have seen a demonstration once and forgotten the steps, as well as for any brave souls who are willing just to give it a try.

Full Chair Shoulderstand (My Happy Place)

I certainly encourage you to try Chair Shoulderstand and, if you like it, to add it to your home practice because this variation of Shoulderstand will allow you experience the legendary "soothing" quality of Shoulderstand. Because you are completely inverted in this pose, the relaxation response will take effect quite quickly (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors). Your neck is also flexed in the pose, which enhance the relaxation (see More Love for Baroreceptors). And you can use the supported version of Shoulderstand in place of full Shoulderstand in any sequence (or class) that includes full Shoulderstand.

Instructions: To do this pose, you just need a sturdy chair with four legs. It's okay if the chair has a bar between the front legs or a back panel.

1. Start by placing a folded yoga mat on the chair seat, letting part of the mat extend over the front edge of the chair. (If you're tall, you may need to place a folded blanket or two on the chair seat to support your pelvis.) Then place two yoga blankets, folded lengthwise into long rectangles, in front of the chair legs with the folded edges away from the chair. All the props should be on the floor, not on a yoga mat because when you come out of the pose, you'll need to slide the props. If you're nervous about doing the pose on your own, you could have a friend hold the chair steady for you just for psychological reassurance.

2. Next, sit sideways on the chair seat.

3. Steadying yourself with your hands, swing your legs over the chair back, keeping your knees bent.

4. Now comes the tricky part. Leaving your legs bent over the chair back (that part is really important as it prevents you from pulling the chair over), place your hands on the chair legs as you scoot your head and shoulders down toward the blanket. Keeping your legs over the chair back, allow your shoulders to come to rest on the edge of the folded blanket (they must actually touch the blanket, not hang in the air above it, so no cheating!) while the back of your head comes to rest on the floor (your neck should be free).

5. Once you shoulders are resting fully on the blanket stack, one at a time thread your arms underneath the chair seat and grab onto the back legs of the chair (while still keeping your legs on the chair back!). If you can't do this because your shoulders are tight or if you have broad shoulders, take your arms outside the chair legs and grab onto back legs of the chair from the outside.

6. Once you are holding onto the back chair legs with your hands—and only then!—you can bring one leg at a time off the chair seat into a vertical position.

Congratulations you've made it into a Chair Shoulderstand! If you're comfortable, stay in the pose for several minutes, as long or longer than you would in full Shoulderstand. I like to stay at least six minutes because after five minutes something magical happens, as I can actually feel my body and mind switch into relaxation mode. However, if the pose is uncomfortable or causes you any pain, come out of it. Think about what kind of changes you might make to your propping, such as adding another blanket under your shoulders (for example, if your neck feels uncomfortable) or on top of the chair seat (if your pelvis isn't well supported). Unlike Supported Halasana, Chair Shoulderstand is a pose in which most everyone can find a way to get comfortable, so it's worth taking your time to figure out the best way for you to do it. If you can't make it work on your own, consider asking your teacher to look at you in the pose and make some suggestions.

8. To come out of the pose, first bring your feet down onto the chair back.

9. Next, bring your hands onto the front chair legs.Then drop your feet onto the chair seat as you slide away from the chair (or push the chair away from you). 

10. Keeping scooting until you are back far enough so you can drop your pelvis onto the floor. Then shift the blankets under your head so you can rest for a few breaths in a comfortable position.

11. Finally,  roll over onto your side and rest there for a couple of breaths. When you're ready, use your hands to slowly push yourself up to a seated position, only raising your head when you are fully upright. Taking your time coming out of the pose helps you retain the quietness you cultivated while you were in the pose.