Bird of Paradise

The first time I ever saw a teacher teach Bird of Paradise in a yoga class I almost thought it was a joke.

Wait, you want me to do a bind, hip opener, and hamstring stretch at the same time AND while standing on one foot?!

I had to apply a serious sense of humor to my practice when I first started working on this pose because there was a lot of falling and feeling more like a bird fall out of it’s nest than a bird in paradise.

The key to teaching this is building each of the components – the hip opening, binding, and balance – throughout your class, and making sure that you offer instruction on a step-by-step entrance into the pose so students can stop along the way. A strap is also hugely helpful!

Puttering/Warm-Up:

• Sukhasana w/ forward fold hip stretch
• Lizard lunge w/ back knee down
• Supported Parsvottanasana (using blocks + back heel up)
• Wide Squat
• Uttanasana (with clasped hand behind the back)

Standing Poses:

• Warrior 2
• Triangle Pose (built from the ground up)
• Extended Side Angle (with hand inside of the ankle)
• Ardha Chandrasana (with half bind in top arm)

Balance Pose:

• Tree Pose (enter from the ground up)

Twist Pose:

• Anjenyasansa twist

Peak Pose: Bird of Paradise

Wind Down Poses:

• Seated Twist
• Baddha Konasana
• Happy Baby

Savasana

Give it a try and let us know how it goes! To catch a few video clips of this sequence in action follow @kate.lombardo and @yogarenewteachertraining on Instagram.