Focus poses and why some stick better than others

I just figured out why, in January, when I did Upavistha Konasana (seated wide angle) and Supta Virasana (reclining hero) almost every day, Upavistha Konasana didn’t improve nearly as much as Supta Virasana did.

I’m adding Parivrtta Trikonasana (revolved triangle) as a focus pose this month.  It’s such a difficult pose for me that I need to do a fair amount of prep for it, starting with Trikonasana (triangle), then Parsvottanasana (stretch to the side), some twists, e.g., Marichyasana, before I can manage it.  It’s also helpful to do it against the wall or lying down.

Similarly, I simply couldn’t do Supta Virasana without preparatory poses – lunges, Virasana (hero), maybe Ustrasana (camel).

However, I can approximate Upavistha Konasana without a lot of prep.  That doesn’t mean it’s good, but it means I don’t work as hard to get to it.  Therefore, I did not improve much in that pose during January.

I can think of several prep poses for Upavistha Konasana:  all wide angle standing poses, particularly Prasarita Padottanasana (standing wide angle forward bend), Malasana (garland), and seated poses.  I guess this is my assignment to myself to do the prep work.