Yogic tip for today

A true  master's tip can be tough!
B.K. S. Iyengar suggests that to improve your paschimottanasana you must first perfect the triang mukhaipada paschimottanasana, marichayasana (forward bend version), janu sirsasana and the ardhabaddha padma paschimottanasana.  In English that would be the Three-limbed forward bend, sage Marichay's pose and head to knee pose and the half lotus locked forward bend. Of these, I can think of most intermediate level practitioners being comfortable in the last two. The first two can be really tough for those who cannot do the paschimottanasana! Which just shows that masters are created in another mould altogether:)

Any case I think Iyengar is talking of the actual classical forward bend, where the index finger of each hand is locked at the big toe, and the elbow drops on either side of the knee. This is the real classical one. And is a very intense stretch .. this though is a dream for most people!!
So, yes, let's work on the top four (simple?) poses to get into the classical forward bend...