A lot of women have problems with this posture
because of the upper body strength it requires.<br>It
will however develop , if you give it time.<br>One
thing is to understand is that contrary to the
traditional pushup ,in this posture the elbows are kept close
to your sides and are not allowed to flare out.So
,if you attempt some cross training strengthening
exercise, remember that your triceps should be heavily
involved. e.g.do pushups with the elbows drawn in or do
them with the elbows out to the side(that emphasises
chest and shoulder development), and then do some
separate triceps exercise.

I had to start by keeping my knees on the<br>floor, until I built up some
triceps.

Hi PG<br><br>I have seen great success in lots of
people who have had all sorts of problems with this pose
by getting them to get a feeling that it CAN be done
by starting from the floor. Lie flat on your front.
Walk the toes under extending the heals away, pushing
the back of the legs up towards the ceiling, the
fronts of the thighs will now be off the floor. At the
same time extend the chin forward, so that now you are
extending away in two opposite directions.<br><br>With the
hands placed so that the finger tips are about under
the shoulders and the elbows tucked in beside the
chest, while still pushing away with the heels in one
direction, and the chin in the other, now apply light
pressure on the palms of the hands to lift the hips and
chest off the floor.<br><br>Once you know you can do it
like this, holding for a few breaths, you should find
putting it into the sun salutations a lot less
intimidating, and probably after a week or so, it will all seem
like a piece of cake.<br><br>Its not a question of
upper body strength. Its more a matter of extending the
body and thereby making yourself light. <br><br>Doing
your regular astanga practice should provide you with
plenty enough work for your upper body
development.<br><br>J'espair que tout a bien passe a Montreal.