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 Set up for St Head to KneeModerators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| Yoga -> Bikram Yoga | Message format |
Jar |
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Regular Posts: 66  | Whole title wouldn't fit...  In the standing head to knee what is the proper setup in regards to my back. Do I grab under my foot and roll my back forward to hold my thigh parallel with the floor, or do I try to stand upright and lift my foot/leg as high as possible before kicking out? As a background, I have lower back pain, and have been seeing a chiropractor for about 25 years. If i try to hold my leg parallel to the ground, my lower back cant take it and I fall out of posture very quickly. If I keep my back straight as possible I can hold it the entire time in the initial stage, and can get my leg kicked out for 10 or so seconds. So my questions would be what is the proper posture, and what is a a good modified posture for someone with back problems that will best lead to the proper posture as the muscles develop? If I think of the posture as three stages, (lift leg, extend leg, head to knee) what position is my back supposed to be in for them? Thanks in advance, and sorry of this has been asked a lot prior. | ||
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| Hi Jar! There are really four stages in head to knee: holding the foot, kicking out, elbows down, and then forehead to knee. The back should absolutely be rounded in the first stage and the thigh should be parallel to the floor, lower leg parallel to the mirror (so the leg is like an "upside-down L", as they say). Shoulders round forward also. The back then straightens when you kick out. It rounds again when the elbows come down, and obviously stays rounded when the forehead comes down to touch the knee. The rounding forward can definitely be difficult on the lower back, but it is vital to the posture, which is essentially a forward bend. In order to protect your lower back, you need to suck your stomach muscles in HARD. This will give you a great compression in the lower abdomen and will build your core strength. It will also be a lot harder, so take your time and be patient with yourself! It's totally fine if you are falling. A lot of people can only hold the posture for 10 seconds when they start their practice. You don't need to modify - you just need to use your stomach like crazy, focus on your good alignment, and take your time. If you want to see a good example of what each step of the posture looks like, check out the videos of the world champs at yogacup.com. Obviously most people's postures will NOT look ANYTHING like these, but it is still really helpful to know what your destination looks like, even if it takes your whole life to get there! Good luck and keep the questions coming!  This yoga can do WONDERS for the back. Oh - and on his CD Bikram says something like "if any person in this world can do cobra, locust, full locust, and bow, you will never have to go to chiropractor - chiropractor will come to you!!"  | |||
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| Cyndi |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 5098  Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | |||
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| Andre |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 399  Location: Oregon | |||
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| Jar |
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Regular Posts: 66 | Thanks everyone. I'll stop cheating by holding the foot while standing upright then going straight to the leg extension. Instead I'll do as a good newbie and make sure I can hold the foot the whole time with a rounded back first. Its been one of those areas where i miss the verbal instruction a bit, or at least my selective hearing has decided to miss those cues where im to keep the leg level | ||
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That's right - don't cheat!!  That reminds me of my very favorite online guide to the postures... besides being cute, it's incredibly thorough and helpful... http://bikramyogales.com/index.cfm?section=aboutbikram&fuse=postures&id=8 | |||
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| Jar |
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Regular Posts: 66 | Dancingj Thats an awesome site, thanks for the link. I've been looking for an online description to accent and fill in the missing bits from class. So tonight i tried the rounded back and wow my standing leg was wobbling all over the place. Thats a lot harder to hold position even without my gimpy back muscles On a side note, i hit a new plateau in yoga tonight (after 2 weeks, laff). When i started the night I was under a ceiling fan, and all I could think of was "dang, all i can feel is boiling hot air blowing on me, im gonna die in this spot" Then at first corpse pose all I could think was "wow, i can feel a cooling breeze from that fan". Who would have guessed 105 F air could be a cooling breeze  | ||
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| salsa girl |
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