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| Does anyone have any suggestions on how to help students who have diffuculty stepping forward from down dog? I use sun salutaions in most of my classes and a few of my students have trouble stepping the foot forward from downdog to Warrior I or Warrior II. I have them lift the leg high in down dog before they step foward. Is there a specific muscle or area that makes it diffucult for some people? |
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| They are stepping too far forward. Have them step halfway and learn from that... |
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| And then there are folk like me with ultra tight leg muscles and dodgy knees who find the whole thing just too darn risky to contemplate   
Fee |
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| It's not just about the legs. It's about core also, but that's not the complete package either. Keeping the chest area open is the part that is usually forgotten with most people. Instructing your students to look forward as they engage, keep the hips high and then step forward might help remind them. Good luck. |
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| I remember when I first started teaching. I have some real newbies in the class and one of them completely fall over trying to step forward from downdog to uttanasana. It was scary.
It seemed like a such a simple thing too. I think her weight was the biggest problem...
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| hnia, it's a lot harder than we think. More often than not, I tell my students to come down to the knees first, bring the foot forward into proper position, and then lift the back leg once they're there. Otherwise they'll all get stuck trying to make the transition and class will never get anywhere. And even that's a struggle, though of a different sort, because they don't want to modify because they think it's "wrong".
Edited by OrangeMat 2008-09-25 2:49 PM
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| At what level of practice are the students in question?
If these are beginners or raw beginners then it is to be expected that stepping a leg forward from AMS might be challenging. For those two classifications of students the transition from AMS is to Vanarasana and therefore a bit more accessible than a transition in another form of SN where Vira I is mandated after AMS.
That having been said, let me respond to your question about the lunge. The preparation for the leg movement is hip flexion and lumbar spine extension. The former draws the thigh bone toward the lower torso and the latter creates space for that by tipping the pelvis posteriorly.
To enhance the movement of the leg you can work poses that strengthen the psoas, iliacus, and rectus femoris. Since the stepping through involves knee extension you can focus on strengthening the rectus femoris. Quadriceps work in Dandasana, standing poses and Eka Pada Supta Virasana will be helpful when skillfully instructed or you can work similar actions in Classical Surya Namaskar itself - Uttansana, Vanarasana, Tadasana, Ardha Chandrasana, Sarpasana, and Bhujangasana.
Edited by purnayoga 2008-09-25 4:59 PM
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| Orangemat.... that's me that is :-)
Fee |
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stepping forward from down dog
