Straight arms with hands near the feet? I thought hands were near the knees! I'm going to give this variation a go.

I tried this pose for the first time earlier this summer. I managed to bring my knees down, assisted by my teacher, but getting them back up was a different story. I think this is a useful tip that Kino gives about practising from headstand first and moving the leg back to come into lotus makes sense. Now to practice and possibly fall on my head :-)