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cannot reach my feet

2008-03-06T07:21:14Z

Posted by Ela

Hello,

I am a beginner (2 weeks), 55 years old and 40-50 lb overweight...but I am determined to make it. I plan to attend classes everyday at least 2-3 months.
As I’ve predicted I had a lot of problems with several poses. I meant with all of them but I know I have to be patient and kept my paste.
The biggest problem which cost me frustrations are poses when I need to reach my feet and I am not able to do that.
This is one of those poses. I can only touch my feet. How to progress?
I will posted my problems with other poses.
Thank you for your help,

Ela

Yoga Etiquette Question

2008-05-03T11:40:49Z

Today was my fourth Bikram class. It started out fine during the standing poses, but once we got on the ground I noticed that I was hitting the feet of the woman in front of me when reaching back to do the sit-up out of savasana. I shifted several inches down my mat to avoid this, but she appeared to follow me. I kept hitting her feet, shifting further down, to the side, putting my water bottle in the way, making a thousand adjustments to create appropriate space, but she was completely unaware and apparently unconcerned that I was hitting her feet (which she was plopping down loudly) with my hands each time I moved out of savasana. It got to the point where I was dreading going into savasana because the thought of getting out was too disconcerting. What does one do in this situation? I finally moved my mat to another portion of the room, but the instructor was not at all pleased with this and her irritation created a disturbance. But I was at a loss as to how to achieve any peace of mind, and I didn’t want to end the class in a fit of discomfort. Advice?

pain in the back of the knee on standing leg

2008-04-30T13:23:37Z

Hi there,
I’ve been experiencing a pinching sensation at the back of my knee (where you can feel the lateral ligaments, I think?) on the standing leg during this posture. The pain often begins just when I begin to take my foot, so I haven’t been extending my other leg. This pain has not occurred during any other posture. Am I overextending? What should I do to correct this?
Thanks,
Elena

Thumbs don’t stay interlocked, is that OK?

2008-04-15T18:01:11Z

In standing head to knee pose, when you kick do your thumbs also have to
be interlaced to the webbing? as hard as i have tried, my thumbs still pull
apart. i think it maybe b/c i have really small hands or maybe b/c my grip
still isnt strong enough, although i dont have trouble with my grip during
any other posture.

Thanks
Susan

I like this posture usually. . . .

2008-03-10T17:56:05Z

...I have been practicing Bikram yoga for 3 years. Last fall I had an interuption and gained quite a bit of weight.

Dandayamana Janushirasana posture used to be one of my favorites. I found it completely mediative and calming, and the focus, oh the focus.

HOWEVER, the weight in my belly in causing me problems, i can not get to the bottom of my lifted foot to get into the posture.

I still think it’s a great posture, but how to get into the posture? What do you suggest? ?

Hips “popping” in standing head to knee

2008-03-06T09:06:35Z

Posted by rjj718

I have very stiff hips and often suffer hip pain, especially in my left hip. I think this is from over thirty years of running and high impact aerobics, before I found Bikram. Bikram really helps my stiffness, but I’m frustrated that my hips keep me from really going into some of the poses. In Standing Head to Knee, when my left leg is locked, the hip pops in and out of joint (audibly, and painfully). Is there a correction I can do that will help this? How far should I push through the pain and the popping? Can this pose damage my hip even further?

I keep losing my balance in standing head to knee

2008-03-06T08:24:35Z

Hello,
I am going into my third year of Bikram and now find my balance in this pose has gotten worse during extension of my leg, am wondering what is going on--and what could I do to offset this.

My balance tends to go off when I hold my foot up and am on the standing leg with my body bent over preparing for extending the other leg and then when the leg is extended it is more of a struggle--I can hold it some sessions for the entire time with my leg extended balancing on the other leg and wonder why it is so erratic. I try to consider the placement of my standing leg, my hip alignment and also my emotional state--in particular how in the present moment I am with my breathing and sense of calmness/lack of anxiety about the heat/length of the workout or work stuff etc-- I know that with balancing stick pose after learning the proper execution of the pose I am now able to do this pose successfully and think that it is the same with standing head to knee--that my form is off--hope this answers your questions.

Hello BL

I have pasted your comments from another thread to answer your pose-specific questions! Thanks.

I can’t help but wonder if your problem stems from the way you are extending your leg. When done with the right technique this part (stage 2) should be the easiest part of Head to Knee - even much easier than stage 1.

What so many people don’t understand is that the second stage of this pose involves straightening the back and lifting the chest as the leg extends. Obviously locking the standing leg is extremely important. It is not until stage 3 that the spine rounds over again.

If you are losing your balance as you start to extend then I have some sneaking suspicions, so if you don’t mind, I would like to ask you some questions first regarding your ‘extension process’.

When you extend your leg are you leaving your thigh where it is and lifting your heel up to the same height as your thigh?

When you extend, is your back staying rounded over? What do you do with your back?

What can you tell me about your arms? Slightly bent, very bent or straight?

What about your extending foot? Your toes?

Looking forward to your response, now that we are both on the same page. I notice you have a further query about the struggle when the leg is extended. Answering those questions for me should clarify everything, your greater pose awareness will either get rid of your problem or make the cause much clearer to tackle.

Namaste
Gabrielle