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

Hello Ela

It seems to me that bending over is difficult due to your flexibility issue and maybe because you carry a little extra weight.

Here’s a way to get some great progress in this pose. It will help you open up your hips and at the same time help you get some great practice and stamina for locking out your standing leg.

After a while the progress you make here and in other poses will help you bend over and reach your foot more easily.

First side:
Lock your left leg and bend up your right leg.

Interlock your fingers and place them just at your knee.

Let your arms straighten.

Let your knee ‘fall’ against your hands’ grip.

Keep your back straight, chin parallel to the floor.

DO NOT flex your foot, just keep your foot relaxed.

Only hold your knee up with the grip. Gravity pulls your knee down against your arms. And your arms are NOT LOCKED, they are simply stretching due to the weight of your leg. Your back resists rounding and you stand up straight. In fact it is a kind of balancing act as you lean ever so slightly backward to balance the forward moving weight of your leg.

Keep checking into your locked left leg. A hint here is not to look any lower than the knee of your locked leg in the mirror (or you will start to lose your balance in any pose). In time you will meet yourself in the mirror.

Ela, you are doing many classes per week. It may not take long before you can safely bend over and reach your own foot! But try this first as you build strength and gain some much needed flexibility. And if you are like me, you may lose a lot of shape in your first few weeks of practice.

Namaste
Gabrielle

If you don’t understand the detail just ask!

Posted by Ela

Gabrielle,

I will try today...need to read a few times.
Hopefully you would be helpful with others poses as well.

Have a great weekend,

Ela

Hi Ela

Have you managed to try the technique yet? If you haven’t and you don’t understand my instructions, let me know. I may be able to dig out a photo for you.

Kind regards
Gabrielle

Posted by Ela

Gabrielle,

I’ve tried and have one question:
“Interlock your fingers and place them just at your knee.” - not below knee? Why?

thanks,

ela

OK! Just below the knee, above the shin. Silly me!!!

Gabrielle

again, my teachers discourage this.. They do not want me to hold my knee at all.  They tell me to round my spine, suck my stomach in, and aim my hands down towards my foot.  But I have a hard time with this b/c it tends to feel like a strain on my back.. I typically raise my foot, lock my knee and stay up straight..

Hello Mammaren

You obviously are greatly in tune with your body. This is great. Once again, do what seems right. There are always varying standards of knowledge and teaching. Going into a pose and feeling strain (no matter how insistent your teacher is that you should follow their direction) is NOT ON. Please don’t put yourself at risk.

I wouldn’t mind knowing what it is they are expecting you to do with your hands when you round over. AND are you saying that you bend up your leg and just stand straight without doing anything with your arms or hands? These questions answered would certainly help us both understand each other better.

When you can’t hold your foot, then the knee is a real option. The traction work creating space in your spine and opening your central nervous system, the strength in your fingers, the ability to focus wholly on locking out your standing leg while also opening your hip are just some of the good reasons to do it.

Ciao for now

Namaste
Gabrielle

I’ll try to clarify

This is the instruction almost verbatim from the teacher.. If you cannot reach your foot, round forward and reach FOR your foot.  Suck you stomach in, round down and reach for your foot.  One day you will reach your foot.  Do not hold the knee or the shin as this puts undue strain on the lower back. 

This is what I do.  I lock my standing leg, raise my kicking leg up about halfway and stand upright keeping my knee locked and my stomach tight.  My hands are down resting at my side. 

Does that help??

Thanks again so much..

Hello K

May I seek some clarification with a question?
When you bend your leg up, it appears that you are saying that your thigh is lower than parallel to the floor, is that correct? You are simply standing there with a leg bent up to some degree, body straight and arms relaxed.

Best to get clear

Looking forward to your response

Namaste
Gabrielle

I would say my thigh is nearly parallel.  But the rest of it is correct..