Head to the floor first?

Hello oenone

Hmmmm… this is a challenge for most hot yogis. For you however, it seems that you are very close to achieving this elusive goal.

A number of tips:

* Always ensure that with your arms over your head that your shoulders are always positioned down and back.

* Because your ability to keep your arms back and palms together is a function of many conditions including the flexibility of your shoulders, the ability to keep your torso open and whether your latissimus dorsi are elongated enough to withstand the position (amongst other things) you will find that focusing on poses like Half Moon will help you enormously.

* On your travel downward and forward, it is very common for the wrists to bend and the fingers to point down to the floor. So, do whatever you can to preserve the straight line from shoulders right through to the fingertips at all times. Believe me, the bents wrists problem happens a lot and the tighter the body, the more pronounced the problem.

* Re knife edge of fingertips: I actually prefer to focus on lifting the wrists and elbows off the floor while focusing on solid shoulder position. Your arms will activate and you will find your hands in the right position. To say that it is only the baby fingers is actually not accurate because depending on your own geometry and flexibility you may even have the tips of the longest fingers touching the floor.

Have fun!!!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Annie

I think the other issue in this pose is that we can get caught up thinking it is only about the upper body. This is understandable because we find a lot of challenge particularly on the entry.

So, try this: squeeze your knees together tightly. This will firm your lower body and create a better foundation or seat. You may find that your butt stays put with a little more ease. Try also to engage your core muscles. You will find it easier to extend and stretch out further.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

I have had 2 soulder surgeries and the instructors at my studio always refer to this as easy pose. It is anything but easy for me. I often feel some pain in my shoulders after doing this posture. I try to keep reaching forward but my butt will not stay down. There comes a point when I am not sure whether to reach forward or focus on keeping my butt down.