Thumbs don't stay interlocked, is that OK?

Hi Susan

Try not to think too much in the pose ;).

I am not sure that there are many people who CAN keep their thumbs interlocked under their feet in this pose. Hey, my thumbs don’t even interlock in the first part of the pose when I am standing rounded over my leg. So don’t worry. The most important thing is that you have the thumbs underneath the foot (and not lying on top). In this way your shoulders are relaxed.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Martina

No wonder you have had problems! Yikes!!! It is more important to have the thumbs underneath the foot than it is to cross them. And to answer the other question, the interlocking is not always the same. Read on …

As the ‘owner’ of extremely long hands and fingers and hands and comparatively short thumbs relatively speaking 😉 I can tell you that it is anatomically impossible for me to interlock my fingers and include my thumbs at certain times.

In Half Moon, or any pose where my palms are together I can cross my thumbs. But with palms apart it is not even conceivable. The more my palms move apart the more my thumbs uncross. My thumbs may overlap at the nails only or touch tip to tip at the nail.

Of course every body is different. There are some who can keep their thumbs more or less interlocked for these poses.

If your body geometry prevents you from overlapping your thumbs in poses like Standing Head to Knee and you then try to interlock them you will find that you can no longer hold the pose in the energetically efficient way intended. Crossing your thumbs could be recruiting your shoulder muscles making it impossible to relax them in optimal position. The fact that you have been crossing your thumbs is THE reason you have not been able to progress (and you have realized it, it seems :cheese:).

Relax the thumbs see if they can be held parallel with your index fingers and if they cross then so be it! Part 1 Standing Head to Knee the grip is quite passive. The work is with the hip flexors to hold the leg up, as well as trying to keep the foot flexed the whole time (the hands help support the foot in its flexion but still passively). It is in the rest of the pose where you really pull back on the ball of the foot with your strong hands at the end of RELAXED arms (Part 2) and with activated biceps in Parts 3 and 4. At no time do you use the shoulders.

So Martina, let me get this straight: have you been taught to interlock your thumbs in Wind Removing pose as well?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Martina

You are so sweet! Thank you!

What an incredible way to be cheated: to feel that you are cheating when you are getting the most out of the poses!

I do believe that you should interlock the fingers in Wind Removing but not the thumbs. Mind you for some people this will be OK. You will get a LOT more work against your knee, strengthen your fingers plus release your shoulders.

RELAX!!! And go back to your cheatin’ ways 😆

I am just about to answer your head to knee question…

Oh and I just checked on your manual delivery. Get in touch with me on my personal email if it is not there by early next week.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂