tall man's trouble in cobra

Hi Gabrielle and others,

I am writing this post for my husband…in cobra, the placement of the feet are troubling him. The tops of his feet (eg where your laces would tie if you were wearing trainers, just below the front of the ankle) are sore and red from pressing into the ground during the pose. He is quite tall (6’5″) and when he points his feet in the posture there is literally no gap between the floor and the top of his foot, all along the top of the foot. His foot is totally flat to the floor. I watched as he did the posture and the foot/ankle is still straight in alignment with the leg, eg he is not rolling the feet in or out, and the heels point directly upward. The feet are touching each other, no gap between the feet. I think he just is able to point his foot with more flexibility than is typical…(In contrast, when I do this posture my pointed feet come into contact with the ground closer to the toe, such that there is still little gap between the floor and the front of my ankle/upper foot where laces would tie).

The dialogue doesn’t give much guidance here except that feet are straight and pointed, feet and heels together. Some instructors mention that as you contract through the butt and legs in prep for the pose, some pressure is placed on the top of the foot. I can feel a slight pressure in my feet when I do the pose, but it seems that he is putting much more pressure on his feet that most people do, perhaps due to the length/shape of his legs/feet and extreme ankle flexibility. He legs are very lean, and I wonder if some of the pressure is due to his legs not having alot of contact with the floor, such that more weigh gets distributed onto the feet. Has anyone come across this problem before? We would love to hear any suggestions that have worked for you.