The Asana Clinic: Week 3

My Top Tips

1. Pigeon toe the back foot in a little bit This will help with stability when you bend the front knee.

2. Keep your weight evenly distributed between both legs. Don’t favour the weight on the front leg – you will risk over-loading the knee, which is a relatively small, floating bone and this will increase risk of injury. Don’t over bend either – it is important that you work within your limits in the moment. I always tell my students that a limit is not a definitive end, it is just where you are at the moment; it is not where you will be in the future. Don’t give in to your ego and just accept what your body can do in this moment – don’t focus on what it can’t do.

3. Try to keep the hips and torso square and pointing forwards – only turn the head to look over the front hand. This takes a little dedicated, conscious practice (you will naturally want to turn) but will create more strength in the torso and core as well as more stability in the legs, in the long run. Imagine that your hip bones are like car head lights – they need to keep in a neutral position, pointing directly forward and aligned with each other. Using a mirror can be helpful in checking the alignment of the hips – checking your profile in the mirror will reveal if you are tilting the hip bones upwards, downwards or rotating them outwards to the sides.

4. Suck that belly button in! This is so vital when we do any form of exercise. Drawing the navel in toward the back of the spine will create stability in the core. Our core muscles are instrumental in keeping us stable and upright and they provide support to our precious vertebrae. The abdominal muscles progress from the front of the belly, all the way to the back where the kidneys are located. Although the navel does not attach to all of the muscles of the abdominal cavity, engaging the front section will support the muscles behind, which then support the muscles and tissues behind them…you get the idea!