Super Soldier pose | Hip opener | Yoga

Super Soldier Yoga pose isn’t a traditional yoga pose, but gained popularity on social media, especially Instagram. Many yoga practitioners have tried this challenging pose over the years. It does resemble Surya Yantrasana or Compass Pose

Here’s a wonderful tutorial I found on Pinterest.

As a part of a yoga challenge last week, I, too, attempted this pose. I had tried to do this last year, but neither I could figure out the mechanics, nor was I  flexible enough to lift the leg.

But this time, I was determined. Like always, I looked up Youtube for a tutorial on Super Soldier pose, along with the warm-up routine needed to open the body. This pose needs flexible Hamstrings to go into the forward fold, open Hips to lift the leg, and open shoulders to go behind the leg and hold the feet.

I did lunges, triangle pose, pyramid pose and forward fold. Then for the hip and shoulders, I did a flow for Titibhasana. One needs a similar warm-up and flexibility to push the shoulder under the leg.

I saw an easier version of Super Soldier, which is more like a standing split variation. This was easily achievable, so I practiced it a couple of times to understand balancing and get used to the feeling of being upside down

Then I tried the actual pose, and oh boy… it was hard. Catching the feet by threading the arm under my leg… omg. It looked more like a mangled soldier than a super Soldier. 😛

I then figured out that I wasn’t distributing the weight properly. So I moved my balancing hand a little further and slightly pushed my weight on it. Lifted the foot first. Tried to push my arms as far under as possible. Once I grabbed the foot, I tried to push the knee up by pushing my weight further on my hands and legs.

It finally clicked.

I did it 2 more times to get the best photo.

I really enjoyed this challenge. I feel like my consistent practice and flexibility drills are finally working.

I don’t do challenging poses every day. I practice basic yoga flow, stretching, and work on strength and mobility. It is fun to test the body with poses like Super Soldier.

This May I am trying to complete 10k steps every day. I have been successful so far, but my hips and legs are really feeling it since I am doing this challenge after a long time. Let’s hope I will be successful in achieving the goal.

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