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<\/a><\/h3>\nThe physical practice of yoga has so much to offer.<\/h3>\n
It gives us time away from our minds and hearts and space to grow and inhabit our present physical states of perfection. More, yoga offers us the gift of experimentation.<\/p>\n
With these following suggestions, I offer you the opportunity to try new things within your practice.<\/p>\n
Often, we get stuck within a \u201cthis is the only way to do a pose\u201d mentality or we become afraid to toe the line of what\u2019s acceptable and proper\u2014and what\u2019s not.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I think: if it feels good and it\u2019s healthy for you and for your body, it\u2019s acceptable.<\/em><\/p>\n Yoga is a\u00a0balance<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>and part of that balance means embracing your present circumstance, your present posture and your always changing ability to shift, grow and advance in new\u2014and possibly unlikely\u2014directions.<\/p>\n In short, try something different. Try this:<\/p>\n 1. Stop obsessively flexing your foot in pigeon pose and start \u201cbarbie footing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Catch: this is for the majority of people who have shins that are not parallel to the front edge of the sticky mat; rather your foot is slightly tucked inward and towards your opposite hip-crease.<\/p>\n In this case, flexing your foot likely causes sickling of the ankle, which is never ideal.<\/p>\n The above images are sickling during standing. In pigeon pose, I\u2019m referring to the shortening the inner ankle\u2014and taking your ankle out of a safe, neutral position.<\/p>\n So, yes, you\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0want to flex your foot\u00a0if<\/em>\u00a0you\u2019re able to fully get your shin parallel to the top edge of your mat, but if your foot is tucked in, play around with fointing your feet (otherwise known as the barbie foot).<\/p>\n Basically you\u2019re flex\/pointing your feet so that you are still slightly flexing (and protecting your knee) but you\u2019re also extending out through the balls of your feet. (Seriously\u2014envision a plastic barbie\u2019s foot and play around with it\u2014and with what feels good to you and your pose.)<\/p>\n 2. Eclipsing your heels in downward dog.<\/em><\/p>\n As long as we\u2019re on the sickling thing, get into downward facing dog and look at your ankles. Many students are shortening through the inner ankle in this posture as well.<\/p>\n The more common cue is to be told to roll your inner thighs apart and back\u2014this helps lengthen equally through the leg and through both sides of your ankles. However, many students aren\u2019t able to feel this in their bodies yet or, moreover, they think they\u2019re feeling it, but the action isn\u2019t working completely.<\/p>\n Instead, in your down dog, look at your feet and eclipse (or hide) your heels from sight. Notice how this helps equally lengthen through both sides of your ankles. (Then possibly notice how this change in your feet changes what you feel in your legs as well\u2014starting from the ground up.)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n