YogaKutir

07/08/2026

There’s a reason your legs still feel heavy in the Crows & Cranes

And it probably isn’t because you need stronger arms
Or that you haven’t aligned with gravity

Most people treat Crow as an arm balance
And this makes sense

Knees high on the arms
Lean forward
Balance

When it clicks, what often keeps everything together for most is:

arm strength
leg grip
friction
gravity

The whole thing can be held together without the abdominals doing a great deal
(Which is why some teachers say you don’t need your core)

This is why many people tell me

“My legs feel heavy.”
“I can get up but it never feels light.”
“One slip - face plant.”
“I cant straighten my arms”

This is a piece thats often missed:

The Bakasana family sit in the abdominal branch of the asana family tree

This is their functional role and transferable benefit

It’s what makes them one of the best counter posture for backbends
It’s what helps create support in the lumbar for forward bends

This is the piece that’s often missing

The lesser-practised version makes this much easier to see
Legs wide
Shins move towards the triceps
Grip is needed far less

Because something else has to happen
The lift has to come from the abdominals

Without that action, the posture doesn’t really leave the ground.

When this support comes online, the legs become lighter
The arms stop having to do everything
The whole posture starts working together

And this isn’t exclusive to the classical version

You can integrate the same action into any variation of Crow/Crane

And there’s more

You can start building the very thing that makes the posture lighter without even balancing on your hands

There is a specific drill I teach that gives you the exact same abdominal action with the feet staying on the floor

You get all of the support, control and lift without needing to balance
I’ll be sharing it the upcoming free 3-part Inversion & Arm Balance training

If you’d like an invite, reply CROW

Follow .kutir for more crow tips

06/08/2026

After working with thousands of teachers & students, you start to see patterns

The single biggest pattern I see with headstand is misdiagnosing the real reason for the struggle

You may have been told, or think, that the reason for your Headstand struggles - lifting the legs, balancing, staying longer is one of these

Need stronger arms
Not flexible enough
Anatomy / body proportions
Too old
Not practising enough
Fear

The most effective Headstand is rooted in the most aligned method

Yet the most commonly taught Headstand method today is not the most aligned

It leaves gaps
It uses unnecessary energy
And it doesn’t align with the body’s mechanics

It makes it harder than it needs to be

(And if you have been to a training or workshop with me you’ll know why)

So if the most commonly taught method isn’t the most effective, how can you expect to have the most effective Headstand?

Here is the real problem.

Thinking that your arms aren’t strong enough, or that flexibility or anatomy is the issue, is not the cause

It’s the symptom

The symptom of unknowingly using a method that doesn’t fully align

I used to practise and teach this way too

That stopped 15 years ago when I finally saw the issue

And yet today, what I stopped practicing is still the most commonly taught approach

If you aren’t aware why, or that another method exists, you assume this is how Headstand is done

So you teach it, practise it, & the cycle continues

So when there is a problem, you think it’s your arms...

It’s like swimming upstream & not being aware of the current. You think its hard, so think more arm power

What a difference it would make if you were swimming with the current

This is what happens with Headstand

The method I teach inside Art Of Inversions very quickly shows that it isn’t your arms, your flexibility, or your proportions

Of course those things influence the posture, but they are too often the symptom

The real cause is the method

Change that - change your practice

I have been doing this for a long time with different bodies, ages, & abilities

The pattern is the same

I’ll break this down in an upcoming training

If you'd like an invite, reply HEAD

05/08/2026

When we talk about flexibility today, it’s often in the context of something we want to have.

To acquire.

We accept stiffness as our normal state.

And a more flexible future state is something we have to work hard towards.

I can remember Dona Holleman sharing something with me many moons ago, and it changed everything.

And that is this.

To be strong, flexible and full of energy is our natural state.

It is not something to acquire or achieve.

Because we already have it.

So the question then is, why aren’t we?

Not to ask, “How?”
Instead, “Why not?”

You can substitute everything future-based instead of flexibility.

Freedom.
Abundance.
Enough.

But let’s stay with the body.

The way we live.
The way we think.
Our habits.

These gradually take us away from our natural state.

So rather than “doing”,
we instead get to “undo”.

To uncover what is already there.

Our personalities imprint themselves on the physical body.

I’m sure you are familiar with expressions of how we describe one another.

“She looks like she’s carrying the weight of the world.”
“He looks radiant.”

How we are and how we think leaves its mark.

The natural state of the body is perfection.
Flexible and free.

It is not something we try to get.

We already have it.

Our job is to rediscover it, if we choose to.

03/08/2026

On most occasions when the arms go up overhead, the shoulder blades move up towards the ears

This is key for backbends and for arm balances such as Handstand and Pincha

What many people get wrong is applying the same focus to Headstand

Because this is an exception to the rule

And so many misunderstand this

In fact, if you have been told to let your shoulder blades go towards your ears in Headstand, you’ve probably also been told to keep all the weight in your arms.

Because essentially you are practising Forearm Stand with your head lightly touching the floor.

This isn’t Headstand.

This is Forearm Stand with your head lightly touching the floor.

The mechanics are very different.

The structure is different.

The effects of the posture are different.

So if you struggle to stay longer...

Think your arms need to be stronger...

Have been told to do Dolphin reps to build more strength in the arms and shoulders...

Find it hard to lift the legs with ease (or at all)...

Or your balance is short-lived or shaky...

This is a method problem.

Not a you problem.

You are simply using a design that makes the posture much harder.

Because it doesn’t utilise the most effective structure.

This is how Headstand is often taught, even by some great teachers.

Because they were probably shown this way too.

And if you have the strength, you can get away with it.

Headstand is a long-duration posture.

I have been specialising in it for a long time.

I’m involved in some early research looking at how Headstand can positively affect our brainwaves.

And one of the early things we’re seeing is this:

How you do it matters.

Because an arm-heavy design means you are using far more physical effort than you need.

And you actually keep the real structure weaker.

There are many commonly taught cues that compromise the design and make the posture much harder.

I stopped using these 15 years ago, yet they are still among the most commonly taught today.

I break this down in detail in an upcoming free inversion training and show you a far more effective and aligned approach.

Reply HEAD for an invite

02/08/2026

If you have been told to put all the weight into your arms in Headstand, with little to none on your head, you are making this 10x harder than it needs to be.

Your head is essential for Headstand.

Remember, it isn’t Forearm Stand or Handstand.

It’s Headstand.

Very simply, when you disconnect the head and neck from the design, you weaken the real structure.

Which means you have to rely on your arms.

Which means you think you need more arm strength than you actually do.

Weakening the structure also means you’ll need far more core strength than you otherwise would.

Which means you think you need more core strength than you actually do.

Disconnecting the main structure means your balance won’t be as stable.

Which means you’ll wobble more, feel more fearful, or stay glued to the wall.

And your legs are going to feel much heavier.

Which means you’ll rely on compensatory strength to lift them.

Can you see the pattern?

The most commonly taught techniques don’t often align with the real mechanics

And if you’re only learning in general yoga classes, there’s often just a few minutes to cover Headstand. That means only a handful of key points can be shared

Having worked with thousands of teachers and students over the past decade, most had been taught the same instructions I was. The same cues that are still widespread today

Around 15 years ago, I stopped practising them after I was shown the flaws

That began a completely different approach that not only transformed my own practice, but has enabled me to support others build a practice based on the real mechanics

Just by redesigning the posture, the legs become lighter, balance becomes steadier, staying longer becomes more easeful, and fear begins to dissolve

If you find Headstand hard...

If you’ve been told to put all the weight into your arms...

There’s a good chance you’re making it much harder than it needs to be

I break this down in detail in an upcoming free training, where I’ll show you what an aligned method looks like and give you the starting blocks to begin redesigning your Headstand

For an invite, reply HEAD

[follow .kutir for headstand tips]

#

01/08/2026

Most Crow and Crane poses today are taught as Arm Balances

Which makes sense, right?

But there is another layer to those poses thats often overlooked.

And this is the very thing that can make the difference between legs flying or staying on the runway...

The commonly taught Bakasana method is this:
Knees high into the backs of the arms
Pelvis high
Head lower
Weight loads into the arms

Once you move forward enough, gravity aligns.
And what often keeps it together is friction and angle
One slip - crash landing

So to stop this, you are often told to place the knee in a certain way, grip the knee.

And despite doing all the things…
Your arms still feel heavy
Balance is still sporadic or short lived
And the legs feel 20kg heavier

The lesser-practice Bakasana has a different focus
Because it recognises its role in the asana family tree

Bakasana is an abdominal pose (that you happen to be on your hands for)
Its what makes it a great support for backbends and forward bends
Its what helps back health

Understanding it through this lens changes the way you go about it

Adding this missing action enables the body to feel lighter on the arms
It means you don’t need to rely on grip to keep the legs in position
And it means you create a lighter lift in the backend - which could be the final piece of the puzzle to actually lift the legs

It doesnt matter which Bakasana version you fly
Turning this on gives you an extra pair of wings in all species of this bird

I prefer the traditional version (in the reel) as it gives you way more access to this action (because of what your feet can do in this position and cant do in the other)

This exact mechanic is something I’m sharing in the free up-coming 3 day inversion and arm balance training.

If you want Crow/Crane to feel light instead of heavy, reply CROW for an invite

[follow .kutir for more flying tips]

01/08/2026

We interrupt this channel for a very important public service broadcast…

SHEMAN - Count Binface (Official Video) | Ebeneezer Goode Parody by...

30/07/2026

Fast-track culture has crept into yoga

Everywhere you look...
7 days
14 days
30 days
Master this
Unlock that

Somewhere along the line, speed became the thing we’re buying

Not depth
Not understanding
Not the method

The speed - it became the measure

I find that fascinating

Yoga used to be one of the few places that offered something different

It wasn’t trying to keep up with the pace of the world

It invited us to step out of it

Now it’s doing exactly the opposite

Everything has to happen quicker

As if waiting has become a swear word

But what happens when someone doesn’t get there in 7 days?
Or 30 days?
Or six months?

Most people don’t question the promise
They question themselves

“I’m not strong enough”
“I’m too stiff”
“I’m too old”
“I’ll never get it”

I’ve worked with many people who arrived believing they’d failed

They hadn’t

They’d simply measured themselves against someone else’s timeline

Take that timeline away...

The pressure lifts
The practice becomes enjoyable again
People start paying attention

They become curious
They stop chasing the outcome and start learning the process

And, interestingly, progress often accelerates

I’ve never understood why yoga needs to happen quickly

Why is learning something over two years somehow less valuable than learning it in two weeks?

Who decided that?

Some of the most important things I’ve learnt in yoga took years

Time wasn’t getting in the way
Time was part of the teaching

It matured my practice

Maybe that’s the piece we’ve lost
Depth isn’t something you can fast-track
Depth is created by the passage of time

And (ironically) from everything I’ve experienced so far, depth is the thing that eventually collapses timelines

Slow it down

Drop a 🐌 below if this lands with you

And have you ever thought you had an issue because something didn’t happen in the timeframe you were told?