Excerpt from Yahoo group posting
[Ashtanga Yoga] Re: standing up from Urdhva Dhanurasana
Hi, to stand up from the floor smoothly (with control of the movement,
and without relying too much on the body swinging momentum – which
might be dangerous to your back, and other practicing in front of
you), you would need the followings:
1./ Good Openings in the front of hips – this will prevent too much
bendings in your lower back, which if you keep on relying on, will give
in to pain and cause long term back issues. Patient and dedication in
standing poses will grandually open the hips, if you practice them with
correct alignment.
2./ Weight distribution on the feet, legs by rooting firmly on the
floor – if your feet is pointing out (if your hip is not open and try
to walk in your feet, this will happen) it is difficult to ground the
bowl of feet, heels firmly enough to push the energy upward into your
legs. This is necessary, because standing up wouldn’t feel balanced or
controled without solid foundation.
3./ Gaze & Fear factor – don’t ever look up when you try to come up.
Keep on looking for the feet, let your hip guide your upper body
forward. Leave the weight on your feet, hips until the last moment –
your legs should be straight when your hand leaves the ground and your
nose still pointing to the ground.
4./ Patience. Patience. Patience. – all is coming. but jumping into
standing up when your body is not ready would mean to slow your
practice down by getting injured. If you get injured once in your back,
your mind will learn something you never had before – fear of trying to
stand up. It’s not worth risking this huge drawbacks. I would like to
recommend you to focus on various Openings in your body, then one day,
you will be so naturally ready to come up with full confidence. I was
pretty flexible in my body, but I have practiced regularly for 3 years
before I can drop back & stand up with full control.
Good Luck!