Eka Pada Koundinyasana II (One Legged Koundinyasana Pose II) registers as 24* on BKS Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty and is one of my favorite poses.
I thought I had this pose figured out… until I read Iyengar’s instructions for getting into Eka Pada Koundinyasana II. Iyengar instructs you to approach the pose from Visvamitrasana or, for advanced practitioners, from Salamba Sirsasana II. Say what?!
Don’t fear. You can still work towards Eka Pada Koundinyasana II without taking Visvamitrasana or Salamba Sirsasana II first. Try this approach:
Start in a Low Lunge with your right leg forward, both hands inside your bent front leg. Then weave your right hand behind your right ankle and place it outside your right foot. Bend both elbows and straighten your right leg off the ground and onto your right upper arm. From here, gentle press the ball of your left foot into the ground to lift off and fly!
If these instructions have you scratching your head, start with the Low Lunge, then first work on lifting your bent right leg off the ground and onto your right arm. Then toy with straightening your right leg. Once you can straighten your right leg off the ground, then add the hop off of your left back foot. You may fall flat on your face a few times, but remember: it’s just a yoga pose. The most important thing is to have fun trying.
If Eka Pada Koundinyasana II is in your practice, tell me: how do you approach the pose? From a Low Lunge like me or from Visvamitrasana or Salamba Sirsasana II?
Tags: arm balances, arm balancing yoga poses, BKS Iyengar, Eka Pada Koundinyasana II, Light on Yoga
he’s a badass, but your epk is so, so pretty and elegant.
i think it could be approached from astvakrasana…:)
my eka pada k** is always awkward and out of balance
I start from Parsva Bakasana:For example I have my right leg on my arm, I stretch the right leg to the left and the top leg back. Now I’ll try different approach from Visvamitrasana and Salamba Sirsasana II. Thanks for advising
Cristina, do you mean Eka Pada Koundinyasana I? Parsva Bakasana is a great approach for that one, but I’d imagine it’s pretty tough for Eka Pada Koundinyasana II since there’s no twisting in this pose!
Yes,it’s different. I’ve realized by now doing EPK. I’ve confused asana. Thanhs
I usually approach it from different way: from downward facing dog pose I lift up my right leg and bend and move it on my right arm, then stretch right leg on my right side and lift up the back leg. Is it correct? Thanks again
I can only do crow pose from Salamba Sirsasana II, but now I’m intrigued into trying to get into EPKII from SSII. I usually do a series of 3 armstands that incorporate this one – 8-limbed staff pose to Eka Pada Koundinyasana II to Awkward Face pose (this one I usually mess up as I’m still working on how to lift the other leg)…. as a result it usually results in a jump back to Chataranga.
Which one is Awkward Face Pose?
[...] == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}This week in my classes, I’m exploring Eka Pada Koundinyasana IIÂ (One-Legged Koundinyasana Pose II). This has always been one of my favorite arm balancing yoga [...]