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| Do you teach students to try and roll on the toes from up dog to down dog? I have always dropped my knees and flipped my feet to transition. I thought that rolling would eventually hurt my toes and I'd be hobbling when I'm 80 yrs old. But, a teacher told me quite the opposite-that you will gain excellent health in the ankles and toes doing this. She also didn't come down very far in chattaranga (I can barely spell in english, much less sanskrit-sorry!) to transition to updog (it was more like coming down half way, then straigtening the arms and arching the back), whereas I usually come down pretty far and move heavily in my shoulder girdle. She said it saves the shoulders and hers really didn't move at all. I liked it. Do you do that? This is new to me after almost 10 yrs of yoga! I've only seen one other person do the flow with this type movement, tho I've seen plenty roll on toes. |
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| yes, i do teach this.
first, the "half way" chaturanga is actually a modified version. I assume that you mean it's the one where your arms make a 90 degree angle and your back/chest stops at your elbows rather than lowering down toward the wrists (the "full" version of the pose). I teach this because it prevents injury in the shoulders and neck. most people go too low too early, injuring both their rotator cuff and pinching nerves in the neck/shoulder and thus going numb in the fingers. It takes a lot of rotator cuff and shoulder flexibility to do the "full" version of the posture--it can take years to get there.
second, as far as rolling over the toes goes, it is excellent for the feet and ankles. i teach it to my clients who have chronic foot problems, and their problems go away. it's my favorite post-foot operation exercise too (once healed and through physical therapy), doing it just from downward dog--just rolling the feet one-by-one while in downward dog--and everyone does very well with it.
but, when i'm teaching the 'core vinyasa' i actually teach my students to flip one foot at a time, rather than going to the knees to do it. going to the knees wastes a lot of energy and requires disengaging the thighs then re-engaging them to get the proper lift. I'm trying to teach them to use the strength of the legs and belly to support all three postures (chat, up dog, down dog), and so i have them flip one foot to point, then the other--then move to upwarddog--and then flip one foot, then the other, and then move to downward dog.
this also strengthens the feet, ankles and toes so that the roll over is much easier to get down the line.
it might also be important to note that how the ankle rolls is important. some people roll their ankles outward while transitioning, rather than going over the toes to the top of the foot and straight over the toes back to press into the heel. it's important that the ankles don't roll out in this sequence. |
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| Thanks Zoe.  The funny thing is, I have always done the full chat, but really prefer the half, or modified chat, now that I've learned it. I feels healthier to my body, and smoother. I've always seen, and taught, dropping the knees to modify the chat vs simply not coming down all the way. Maybe that's why I've been dropping the knees to flip my feet-b/c I used to drop knees to modify chat. Interesting to think about!
My friend is having trouble with her ankles turning out on the toe roll, now that you mention it. I can do it just fine as long as I go slowly. I took an ashtanga style class last weekend and I was having trouble rolling so fast. I'm rapidly become a person that does not enjoy ashtanga b/c it moves too fast for my liking and I lose the integrity of the asana. |
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| The "why" may be more relevant (to some) than the "what".
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| I too teach students, when lowering to chataranga, not to allow the front of the shoulder to come below the elbow - forming as zoebird mentioned a 90 degree angle.
I also teach students to roll over the toes moving from chataranga to upward dog and also from upward dog to downward dog, with care taken as zoebird said not to allow the ankles to drop out. This is so beneficial for feet and toes as has already been said. I quite often get newbies to hold themselves in a straight-armed, high plank position and just roll backwards and forwards over their toes a few times - they absolutely hate it at first but very quickly get used to it and get the idea of rolling over the toes in the sun salutations. |
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| some astanga classes are run faster than others, based on whether or not the teacher is striving to get the whole or the majority of the primary sequence done in 1.5 hours (it typically takes 2 hours to 2.5 hours to do the whole sequence IME), or if they're willing to "drop" a few things from the sequence to allow the class to flow more "comfortably" during the 1.5 hrs.
also, different astanga teachers will take things at different paces in general, particularly with sun sals and vinyasas between sides. i tend to be more slow, but other teachers prefer speed. no clue why, though. 
i find that a lot of people do low chaturanga improperly, but some people can go right into it right away. one of my students who has only been with me for 2 years and is, for the most part, a really tight person, can manage the low version without dropping knees/hips/etc, and can flow easily (rolling over toes) straight into upward dog.
but, many of my students--even the most experienced ones--prefer to stay with the modified version forever, only practicing the low version occassionally. Personally, i like the modified version better myself. i just find it feels really good. |
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sun sal & rolling on toes
