The double leg lift is perhaps the most dreaded pose of all; your legs can feel like dead weight until you learn to lock them together and press the thighs down before lifting them up - which creates a lightness that makes them fly straight up. It also takes great lower back strength, so how can you encourage your students to have patience and also try 100%?

Taking a sneak peek while you're sitting a pose out is really fine. Imagining yourself doing it is even better!

Hmmm...doesn't sound like that would feel as powerful with legs bent as it does when your legs become weightless by locking them first...I've also seen people get their legs really high with the chin on the ground; I don't recommend it.

So many things affect how a pose feels on any given day but, physically speaking, I find myself able to lift my legs highest when they are locked together tightly/tops of both thighs pressed mat with knee caps popped up, before I go for the lift. To paraphrase an old saying - Lock and lift! Locking in the set up and re-locking in the pose will take you higher, deeper, stronger.

To be honest, I used to do it this way, too, Aimee; forehead to the floor just made more sense to me as it is a wider, flatter leverage point than the lips (or bridge of the nose which gets pressed when the lips are on the mat). But somewhere along the way in my practice, I actually followed my teacher's instructions (!) and placed my lips down and....voila, it felt better. Not chin; try lips kissing the mat - and tell which feels better to you.

Yes, Kim, lightening up on the legs is one of the pose secrets here: the tighter your legs are squeezed together with thighs pressed to the mat to begin, the lighter the legs and thus the easier the life. Anatomically, when you press and tighten the thighs you facilitate blood flow in the legs and that makes them lighter. It is the pooling of blood that makes limbs heavy - arms too. Tighten up and lighten up - you see lots of cues for tightening the limbs in our scripts - that's why memorizing those cues (and all the cues!) makes all the difference in the alignment and safety of the poses for your students.

Yes, Heather, wiggling your fingers after taking them out from under you can really help you feel the tingle of blood flowing back into those digits...just dont clench and unclench you fists - not great for you and your teacher may think you're experiencing Tetny's which we will talk about soon in Teacher Training

Love your mantras, Marguerite. Want to get those legs up higher? Aim to balance on your hip bones. And hey, what are you doing peeking anyway? Your lips should be down on the mat to keep your neck bones stacked safely. If you're talking about the single leg lift, keep your chin on the mat and while "they" are pulling your leg through the back wall, keep looking for your toes to pierce your head in the mirror. Yup there it is.

That's correct Grace: tighten and lighten. To get the legs up higher, Alfia, you keep the legs locked together and unbending so they become light with blood flow; then you press down into the face, shoulders and hands. This is the effort of the pose; the legs being locked and light just makes them all the much easier to keep aloft

Tina, I have one of those big noses too and I see how a prominent nose bone can make pressing the forehead to the mat easier. while also making it more difficult to roll the shoulders to the mat. When I pressed the forehead I was never able to get the legs high...but there is nothing anatomically dangerous to the neck in doing so - want to give it a try and report back?

Yes Alfia the secret to height is in the lock-and-lighter legs. Forehead to the floor is not something recommend but its not dangerous if you want to try it