Amazing what you can do when you are given completely new hips. (Only kidding.)
I’ve always thought that yoga poses are inherently funny. Sometimes I look around a class of students who have voluntarily submitted to being put into Kurmasana or Yoginidrasana or Simhasana and think we are raving mad. Or, how about the studios where ropes dangle from walls or the beams with students hanging upside-down like flying foxes in Sirsasna. We know from experience that the effects of putting ourselves in these odd positions will have beneficial effects but it does take an imaginative leap of faith, particularly when we’re first learning yoga.
Still, it’s good to keep a light attitude and healthy sense of humour. Most important for yoga teachers to remember this bit of wisdom.
When my Simply Yoga web site was created, I had all these amazing photos of advanced poses on it. This was while I could still do poses like Kasyapasana and Bakasana. The poses were showy, beautifully photographed and the web site looked great.
But I wasn’t quite satisfied. I decided I’d go back into the studio with David Clare, my photographer, and ask him to do some more photos. Something fun. Something I hadn’t seen done before. I got out my in-line blades and tried out a few yoga poses.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to do Uttanasana on wheels? Probably not. By the time we finished this photo shoot, I’d only been in the studio for about 30 min. but I felt like I’d done the whole Primary Series of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in that amount of time. Actually, it was a big test of my balance – and I didn’t fall over once.
* Warning: Don’t try these exercises if you haven’t been on roller skates since you were in grammar school.