TheHotYogaDoctor

I’ve been practising for a looooooooooong time, and never (thought I) had a problem with eagle. HOWEVER in prep for teacher training next year I’ve been micro-analysing my postures and am now having issues… YAY!

When I squat down my standing knee jets foward beyond my ankle. My teachers tell me this is not good and I should lean back? This is proving next to impossible. And I notice in the pictures on this forum (which are SO helpful by the way!) there is a definate forward bend to that standing leg…

So i’m wondering what I should be aiming for. Can extending your knee in Eagle be as counterproductive as extending it too far in Triangle? Should I try to make that leg parallel, or would that be (as it’s proving) impossible?

Thanks xo.

Hello xtiinalove

It’s great that you are deconstructing the poses to better understand them.

It is true that your knee should not extend beyond your ankle for Triangle pose. The same condition cannot apply to Eagle pose. If it did then you would be standing in an awfully precarious position with your butt up in the air and your body leaning forward. So don’t worry, what you are asking of your body is impossible.

What you want to do is bend the knee forward and open up the ankles and feel the stretch in the calf muscle. This forward bend is in a way counterbalanced by the hips situated behind you. Your spine is arched and your body is up and in this way you will find back to front balance. The side to side balance is challenged by your twisted arms and legs.

Namaste
Gabrielle

PS: After finishing this post I tried what you have been suggested to try and it IS literally impossible.