I’ve been trying to master the jump through in ashtanga yoga. This is a great short youtube clip of what it looks like:
I’m not quite there yet, and I find that teachers don’t really teach how to do this. Magically, some people in the class I attend breeze their bodies through, gracefully and with strength. I am always curious how they learned, because truly, it never seems to get taught.
I stayed behind in the last class I went to, and asked if the teacher Johnny could break it down for me in little steps. He was very helpful, and I now have more tools with which to practice this. Here is what he did that was helpful:
1) Instructed that I maintain my drishdi (gaze) to where I want me feet to go
2) He stood behind me when I was in downward dog, and asked me to throw my hips to him. Aside from it feeling a little, er- physically evocative- it was also helpful because it made me realize just how much energy I need to place into the push coming from my legs. I was not throwing my hips nearly that high in the air before, and naturally doing so creates more momentum, which makes the sailing through easier.
3) Gave me blocks to rest my hand on in downward dog, so that I could actually be successful at a jumpthough to a) give me hope and b) give me a sense of what it actually feels like to get through.
4) He emphazised what he calls the “no matter what” which is to say that NO MATTER WHAT you pull your damn legs through to the other side, even if your dragging them, and the jump through didn’t quite make it.
I liked that. Made me think of the Bradbury quote,
“you’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down”
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