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| I'm around 5 foot 2 with a long torso and I'm having trouble with the poses that require me to use my legs. Namely, Standing Bow, Awkward and the Tree. Also the one where I have to catch my foot and pull it out in front of me. I can't reach my heels to stand on my fingers.
Is it because I'm too short to do these poses or am I still too stiff? My left leg is shorter than my right and both are very unsteady. |
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| I can't speak to the short leg/long torso issue. But you are not too short. There are lots of people your height or shorter who do things beautifully. My guess is that you need some patience. Bodies are different, and somethings are easier for some bodies than others.
Also, I don't understand what leg length would have to do with Awkward. The others all involve grabbing your foot some way with your hands. But Awkward just involves strength, flexibility, good knees, and determination. |
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Veteran
Posts: 163
 
| There are definately some poses where long arms help and some where long legs are a barrier. I practice with someone whose arms are short and whose neck is long so the only headstand that she can do safely is tripod. That said, most of the Bikram poses in the beginning series are achievable by people with shorter legs and arms, however you have to have really open hamstrings and quads. So if you work at opening your muscles and your hips, you should, overtime be able to get that foot in your hand! |
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| Great, thank you! I just came back from a class and I do seem to be getting better. The muscles in my legs are very weak but slowly getting stronger. |
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Veteran
Posts: 149
| ps... I am 4'6 i hear you LOL |
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| How long have you been practicing?  A lot of those poses will simply open up over time, regardless of your skeletal structure. Just don't give up! There's nothing "wrong" with your body, it just hasn't learned to do yoga yet.
Actually, if your description is accurate, then you don't (just) have short legs, you have a long spine! That gives your body HUGE potential. I've always noticed that a LOT of the Bikram yoga champions (I could list names here...) have those same proportions and do incredible postures. This makes me suspect that a long spine is an advantage for the postures in the Bikram series (which is ALL about the spine, after all). With a bit of practice you'll be able to do things like touch your head to your toes in the final stretching posture (yes, I am serious). But YOU are the one who will find out for sure!! |
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| Really?
I've only been praticing for about a month, maybe just over that. I have M.E. which restricts the amount of physical activity I can do but Bikram seems to be really beneficial for my health. I'd be thrilled if my body was working in my favour rather than against it. |
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| Yep! You are still really, really new at this, missie! Your body type is fine. Every body has its advantages and disadvantages, but there is nothing that will stop you from eventually getting into all the postures.
A lot of those postures can seem anatomically impossible when you first start trying them (you're telling me to put my head WHERE?!?), but that's just because you've never exercised your body like this before. One of Bikram's senior teachers (80+ year old woman named Emmy) says that when you do yoga, you are reclaiming your birthright by restoring natural range of motion to your body. Anybody and any BODY can do the postures. That's part of the beauty of it! Just takes some persistence... and a whole lot of sweat.... |
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| Made some progress today, nearly reached my heels in the forward bend. It occurs to me now that I might have another problem I hadn't considered. I have a very large chest and it's getting in my way quite a bit. How do you get around that? |
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| Yeah! Progress already!!
You're talking about the very first forward bend, where you're trying to get your fingers under your heels, right? Yeah, large chest (or stomach) can get in the way there a bit. It's ok. Just make sure you are getting your upper body pressed against the legs - stomach on the thighs, chest on the knees, no gap anywhere - and work your hands down your calves to your heels. I think that as long as you get that compression, you are already getting the first benefit of the posture. If it's impossible to hold the heels right now, don't worry, just keep TRYING. I'm sure you've already heard this, but - trying the right way = 100% benefit. It is true! |
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| Thank you so much for your help! You're making me feel a lot better about not getting the poses straight away. My friend said that as I lost the weight I might go down a cup size but that's unlikely, this has been my size since my teens. |
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Short legs
