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New User
Posts: 3
| Hi. I have a question about Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose.
In the dialogue it says that your head must make contact your knee or the pose hasn't started…or something to that effect. I haven't been able to touch my head to my knee yet—actually, yesterday on one side I felt my eyebrow brush the knee, so I know I'm making progress. 
Here's where I'm confused: In the dialogue I always hear if you work as hard as you can in each pose, you are getting the full benefit of the posture.
My question is: Am I getting benefit out the posture, if I'm not making actual contact, yet I'm still working as hard as I can?
Thanks! |
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| It doesn't matter whether you touch your head to your knee or not. Yoga is a process, not a goal. Touching your head to your knee is just the direction that you are going. If you can later touch your head to your knee, you haven't "arrived", you have only reached a point where there are other aspects of the pose to work on.
The benefit of the pose is in stretching your muscles (hamstrings, lower back, etc.). There is no benefit to touching you head to your knee per se. For example: A person with really loose hamstrings can touch their head to their knee without benefit. A person with tight hamstrings can get a lot of benefit in just going in that direction, even though their head is nowhere near their knee.
Yoga is personal and individual. The "dialog" is generalized so that it can work for everyone. I think that you need to learn exactly how the "dialog" fits your unique person at each class, rather than trying to fit your unique body/mind literally to the dialog. |
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| Jim, I'm gonna disagree. The posture that's being asked about is not a stretching pose. (For another pose, that would be a good answer.)
Bendier, here's the full scoop: you are getting 100% benefit out of the posture as long as you are trying as hard as you can AND trying the RIGHT WAY. (I need that on a t-shirt.) For some people, depending on anatomy, it WILL be really tough to touch forehead to knee in this posture. For instance, folks with extra mass around the middle and folks with long spines will have extra trouble with this one.
Just make sure that you are trying the right way, using the right technique. There are a couple of mistakes that could keep you from touching your forehead on your knee. You might not be stepping wide enough (it should be about 3 feet, 12 inches wider than your mat) and you might not be bending your front knee enough. Make sure you are doing both those things. You can also separate your hands, put them on the floor, and use them to help you balance and to push against the floor.
If you are doing all of those things and you STILL can't touch, then don't worry, you are doing the best you can. It's good to get the pressure point on your forehead touching the knee, but as long as you are trying REALLY hard to get your forehead touching the knee, you'll still get lots of other benefits - compression of the throat and abdomen, extension of the spine. It'll also give your stomach muscles a good workout! Just make sure you have the right technique, and keep trying! |
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| Sorry confusedj, I am the confused one here. I confused Standing Seperate Leg Head to Knee with Standing Head to Knee.
Standing Seperate Leg Head to Knee is called Intense Side Stretch in most other forms of yoga. I am still kinda thinking that it is a stretching pose by it's name as well as how my hamstrings (also lower back and back of my neck) feel while doing this pose. (It even stretches the shoulders, elbows and hands!)
The benefits of stretching your hamstrings in this pose are very important for runners, bicyclists and anyone with tight hamstrings. The stretch to the back of your neck by touching your forehead to your knee (or at least stretching in that direction) is a great way to stretch the muscles of the back of the neck without risk of injury (like when weight is on the back of the neck).
PS Tight hamstrings are a common cause of lower back problems and injuries.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 574
 
| The answer to the question is that the harder you work in the posture the less benefits you get. firstly the harder you work the less you will feel as to why you cannot get your head to your knee. The reason you cannot get your head to your knee is due to either bone compression or muscular tension. In a similar way, the harder you try to make love, the less sensual it is and the less benefits you get from love making. Have a go with your partner tonight, trying as hard as you can, then try in a few days or next day to just relax and feel your way into it and you may find yourself in some awesome positions you never dreamed you could do and last longer and give yourself and your partner more pleasure! In the same way you can accumilate more pleasure and sense of acheivement and in yoga, where if you try hard you will maybe achieve a posture but will probably achieve a posture but will associate with trying hard when you dont need to. Be peaceful to yourself and develop peace of mind and maximize the benefits of your Bikram practice or any other style of yoga. |
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New User
Posts: 3
| Thanks for all the points of view! I glean that making contact between the head and the knee is an important part of getting all the benefits out of the pose, but if I am compressing to best of my ability there are other benefits I can get. I see I'm making progress on my left side, so I'll go with it!
Edited by bendier 2011-02-10 11:32 PM
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| Good gleaning. A++ for using the word "glean." Makes me think of my favorite play... |
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Regular
Posts: 73
Location: The City of Brotherly Love | theconfusedj - 2011-02-11 12:16 AM
Good gleaning. A++ for using the word "glean." Makes me think of my favorite play...
Which is...? |
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| Roy Batty - 2011-02-13 9:33 PM
theconfusedj - 2011-02-11 12:16 AM
Good gleaning. A++ for using the word "glean." Makes me think of my favorite play...
Which is...?
I was thinking of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead." "GLEAN what afflicts him!" That is probably WAY too obscure and oblique of a reference for anyone to get... great f***ing play, though! I love Tom Stoppard. |
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Regular
Posts: 73
Location: The City of Brotherly Love | Ha! I can totally see you digging Stoppard.
Sorry for the highjack OP. |
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Veteran
Posts: 243
| What about "Gleangarry Glean Ross" :-) |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | I remember Bikram saying this once and I quote, "it doesn't matter if you get your forehead to touch your knee, you will get there if you keep doing my yoga" . I was always taught that it doesn't matter if you can do the posture 100%, what matters is the alignment, the fact that you are trying, and you benefit from the posture regardless of whether you are 100% completed in the posture.
Yoga is a PROCESS!!! |
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New User
Posts: 3
| Thanks, Cyndi. Today, I touched my left knee to my forehead. It's always fun to see the process at work. |
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Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose
