Issue with Body Proportions in Poses

[greenlam]

#2687

I have been doing BIkram for years. Due to my body proportions, I believe it is impossible for me to ever get my butt to the floor – I have long thighbones and shorter in the lower leg (it is a lever issue). I am comfortable going back on my hands (but not further) with arms straight, lifting my chest and feeling a stretch in my thighs and opening up my shoulders with knees remaining on the ground. According to the Bikram teachers, if your butt is not on the ground you need to keep trying to make that happen rather than going back. Just wondering about your thoughts on this. I have the same lever issue with other poses, such as Awkward – if I had shorter thighs and longer lower leg, I could easily go down further, but with such long upper leg I can only go down a little or I start to fall over backward.

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#11224

Hi Laurel

If it’s OK I would like to ask some questions about you and your practice. I need to have a clearer picture and so this may take a little toing and froing.

First round of questions:

When you are sitting in the first part of this pose:
>> Are you sitting with your back completely straight (vertical)?
>> Are your feet aligned with your hips (alongside them)? (Top of your feet on the floor?)
>> Are your knees together? Or are they apart?
>> Where is your bottom at this stage? Is it hovering in the air, and how far above the floor or heels is it?
>> Are you able to relax in this position?
>> Or do have the need to put your hands on the floor for support or to stop discomfort?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[greenlam]

#11241

Thanks for the reply! Here are the answers to the best of my ability:

>> Are you sitting with your back completely straight (vertical)?
I CAN FOR A SHORT TIME, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT AS MY BODY WANTS TO TOPPLE OVER BACKWARDS AND MY KNEES HURT
>> Are your feet aligned with your hips (alongside them)? (Top of your feet on the floor?)
YES
>> Are your knees together? Or are they apart?
I HAVE TRIED BOTH – INSTRUCTOR SAID SHOULD BE TOGETHER
>> Where is your bottom at this stage? Is it hovering in the air, and how far above the floor or heels is it?
I WOULD SAY 2-3″above floor – I was told by instructor to keep feet alongside butt to allow bum to go to floor (IMO never going to happen); if I had my feet under my rear, I would be sitting on them, with heels pressing into the area where my thighs meet my butt and butt oozing onto feet, just so you can picture the proportion issue
>> Are you able to relax in this position?
NO, I try to sit without leaning on hands, but can only do it for short periods due to knees hurting – THAT IS WHY I GO BACK AND LEAN ON MY ARMS – otherwise I am hunched over forward periodically on hands trying to get butt lower (never has changed one iota over years of practice)
>> Or do have the need to put your hands on the floor for support or to stop discomfort?
YES, MY KNEES HURT- I KEEP KNEES ON THE GROUND, BUT THEY FEEL LIKE THEY ARE BEING PRIED APART FROM THE FORCE APPLIED BY THE LONG LEVER OF MY UPPER LEG – so I walk my arms back behind me and lift my chest/butt to get a stretch since that feels like I am at least doing something beneficial for my body

I am not sure what the purpose of this pose is – if it is to stretch the quadriceps, chest, front of arms, then going back makes sense.

[greenlam]

#11258

Thanks for the reply! Here are the answers to the best of my ability:

>> Are you sitting with your back completely straight (vertical)?
I CAN FOR A SHORT TIME, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT AS MY BODY WANTS TO TOPPLE OVER BACKWARDS AND MY KNEES HURT
>> Are your feet aligned with your hips (alongside them)? (Top of your feet on the floor?)
YES
>> Are your knees together? Or are they apart?
I HAVE TRIED BOTH – INSTRUCTOR SAID SHOULD BE TOGETHER
>> Where is your bottom at this stage? Is it hovering in the air, and how far above the floor or heels is it?
I WOULD SAY 2-3″above floor – I was told by instructor to keep feet alongside butt to allow bum to go to floor (IMO never going to happen); if I had my feet under my rear, I would be sitting on them, with heels pressing into the area where my thighs meet my butt and butt oozing onto feet, just so you can picture the proportion issue
>> Are you able to relax in this position?
NO, I try to sit without leaning on hands, but can only do it for short periods due to knees hurting – THAT IS WHY I GO BACK AND LEAN ON MY ARMS – otherwise I am hunched over forward periodically on hands trying to get butt lower (never has changed one iota over years of practice)
>> Or do have the need to put your hands on the floor for support or to stop discomfort?
YES, MY KNEES HURT- I KEEP KNEES ON THE GROUND, BUT THEY FEEL LIKE THEY ARE BEING PRIED APART FROM THE FORCE APPLIED BY THE LONG LEVER OF MY UPPER LEG – so I walk my arms back behind me and lift my chest/butt to get a stretch since that feels like I am at least doing something beneficial for my body

I am not sure what the purpose of this pose is – if it is to stretch the quadriceps, chest, front of arms, then going back makes sense.

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#11261

Oh boy! It’s only been a week! 🙁 :wow:

Hi Laurel 🙂

The answer is easy peasy!!! So worry no longer. However, if your teachers are already telling you not to separate your knees ever then I doubt they are going to let you do what I am suggesting in class. Damn!

The problem is that you are not able to SURRENDER to gravity at any stage of this pose unless you are leaning back on your hands. And when you do that, you are no doubt lifting your hips (whether a tiny bit or a significant amount) in order to relieve the pressure from your knees.

Here is what you actually have to do. You need to find something that will intervene between your bottom and your legs that will allow you to surrender your weight without hurting yourself.

I am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE this will yield the results for you. I had a student at my Teacher Training Course in Costa Rice 3 years ago who had this exact problem. Within a few days he was able to sit down after never having been able to do that before. I have seen this multiple times over the years. The guy I mention above, was doing class with me about 10 times in a week so the results were super fast.

The first time this happened was weeks after I returned from bikram certification (many years ago). I could see that this woman could not sit as directed. So I devised this technique. The woman’s daughter is also a Bikram teacher. Jan came to my studio and within a handful of classes had her butt on the floor… She cried and I was asking her if she had a problem. She said that she hadn’t been able to sit on the floor for 20 years! Yay.

OK, what you have to do is this:

>> If you cannot do this in class, then after class is good. But equally, do it at home. You may be less warmed through but it of course will be helpful.
>> Get yourself some towels and stack just enough towels on your feet under your bottom so that you can sit back into the pile. Your bottom will be 2-3 inches off your heels (as you have indicated) but you will be sitting on something.
>> Sit up straight. Have enough wadding there that you do not need your hands on the floor.
>> A quick word: If you are finding the surface of the floor too unforgiving to surrender because your ankles, shins or knees are hurting, then you may need to double your mat, or find something softer underneath them. Remember the magic word: SURRENDER. If you cannot do that, you will never be able to sit on the floor.
>> If you need to, separate your knees a little. *** See the important note below. With this technique you will find increasing freedom in your hips and knees and ankles to make things more flexible and comfortable.
>> Sit in this position for the length of the pose. If you’re at home, watch television or bide your time sitting like this for as long as you can or want to. Surrender. Read. Have a conversation. Sit like this for some time!
>> Please DO NOT put any of the towel layer CLOSE in to touch behind the knee. You don’t want to force your cruciate and other knee ligaments into a risky (overstretched) position. You are aiming to find ease in this position.
>> Learn how much wadding you need. With towels you have the ability to fold them differently to take a layer or small thicknesses away at a time.
>> You’ll notice that you can sit a little lower and a little more comfortably as the time goes on.

Laurel, that’s the theory of it. Now it’s your turn to practise. My recommendation is just firstly to try this with knees and FEET together. In the same way you would sit (as some would say) “Japanese style”.

THEN, start to separate the feet a little. YOU DECIDE how far your knees will be apart.

*** The great thing about moving your knees in this pose is that YOU make an EASY adjustment that can make the difference between ease and RISK (danger to your knees). So if you are sitting there with knees together one day, with the same level of wadding that you had yesterday, and your knees are hurting, or more importantly, you find you CANNOT SURRENDER, then the VERY FIRST PORT OF CALL without having to come out of the pose at all, is to widen the knees a little bit.

If that doesn’t work, then come out, and fold the towel to increase the wadding thickness. Then remember that magic word.

OK?!!! :cheese:

If that is not clear then please come back and ask again.

Oh, here is something that I can add… You can use armchair cushions. Either the seat cushions or the decorative throw cushions you may have around the traps.

It’s just not the ideal thing to use in class because of all the sweat and moisture. But at home, they’re ideal.

Come back and tell us all your progress.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

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