why does taking my hands off the floor make bhujapidasana harder to enter?

This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered.

The Question

I'm trying to get into Bhujapidasana and I keep lifting my hands off the floor to adjust my position. My teacher said I'm losing all my support. Why does that make it so much harder?

— from a MJH note

Our Response

You can’t do the posture because you’re taking your hands off the ground to set it up. I mean, you probably can, but you’re breaking your chain.

That closed loop—hands planted, weight committed—gives you more strength. Once you’re in contact with the ground and bearing weight through your arms, that’s a closed kinetic chain. Your body can organize force efficiently. Bones stack. Muscles know what they’re doing.

The moment you lift your hands to reposition, you break the chain. Now you’re back to an open chain. Great for agility, speed, fine motor adjustments. Terrible for generating the kind of strength you need to actually get your ass off the floor.

So plant your hands once. Get your shoulders under your knees. Commit. Then lift. Repositioning mid-setup is just procrastination with extra steps.