There are always a few postures that I find myself dreading, and I find myself cheating my way through it. In Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward facing bow or wheel posture), I had a teacher stand over once and tell me to relax, to "untense and approach this posture differently. I made a horrible face like I was going to die, and with this the tensing I was being counterproductive. And with the anticipating and mind telling me I can't/don't want to do it, was impacting my progress. Now I put a smile on my face and just do it.
The first tip today is to relax into all postures, breath into the tight areas and hard parts. I decided to do the full wheel posture vs just doing bridge posture as teachers typically give this option. It took a lot of time, but I really started to see change in my backward flexibility, shoulders and chest opening. But I noticed a lot of my other postures really started to improve as well.
The hard postures and things in life means you need it most. The biggest benefits and results come when we face anything more difficult. If you climb the small hill there may not be a great view, but with the huff and puff to the top of the mountain the view will be breathtaking and worth it.
Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (Extended Head to Big Toe Posture)- is another asana that I really was intimidated by. Its difficult to balance and takes lots of leg muscle. I found a little tip that really helps and that is making your toe work for it. Bend your toe into your first 2 fingers holding it; this helps the balance and distributing of effort needed.
Its fun when you hear one new thing to do in a posture or life and it changes everything. The way you look at, approach and do things. An AHH-ha moment.
Below 2 pics of me teaching and doing both of my hard postures:
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