In your own practice: Bring awareness to how you make contact with the ground
Take time to bring awareness to how you make contact with the ground, regardless of what part of the body that happens to be. Make contact in such a way as to build a stable foundation for whatever position or pose you are going into.
The following tips can help you out:
Hands
Make clear contact with the floor using your hands by:
- Spread the fingers out comfortably and evenly
- Pointer finger will either point forward or slightly outwards
- Hands placed under the shoulders
In the case of a single hand making contact with the ground, place hand accordingly.
Feet
- Symmetrical Standing Posture: Line up with the second toe, heels are placed parallel. Distance between feet based on intuition, so long as clear contact with the ground is established.
- Standing Poses in External Rotation: Line up with the second toe with heels on the same line. The back foot turns in slightly.
- Standing Poses in Neutral Rotation: Line up with the second toe with heels about two fists width distance. The back foot is clearly turned outward.
There are also position such as:
- Foundation based on the balls of the feet (i.e. Asterisk-Asana)
- Foundation based on the tops of the feet (i.e. Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana)
The knee or shin should always line up with the second toe, no matter how the feet are set up on the ground. What is important is whether the foot has clear contact with the ground or not.
Tips for hands that make no contact with the ground
If the hands are in the air, the following finger positions can be taken:
- Fingers spread wide: Fingers stretched outwards to their maximum distance
- Closed: Fingers pressed close together and straight
- Fingers spread wide and relaxed: Fingers are lightly stretched
- Grip: The hands grips something
- Two finger hold: The second and middle finger wrap around something and the thumb closes the contact.
- Fist: Hand is closed in a fist
The location and orientation of the hand is defined by the pose itself- you can use the following recommendations:
- When moving allow the fingers to be lightly spread wide.
- Once you have reached the endpoint of the pose, close the fingers.
- One hand grips the opposing wrist, the so-called bind. If you catch the big toe, you are using the two finger grip.
- In a bind the grasped hand has closed fingers. For those who are hyperflexible, making a fist can help establish stability. For those who lack mobility, fingers spread wide can help to create space.
Tips for feet that do not make contact with the ground
If the feet are not on the floor, you can use the following options:
- Pointed: Tops of the feet along the line of the shin
- Flexed: Top of feet about 90 degrees from the shin
- Semi-Point / Flex: The feet are flexed and at the same time the balls of the feet are pushing towards pointing
The foot position is defined by the asana taken. The following are recommended:
- Extreme forward bends: Feet pointed (i.e. Tittibhasana)
- Light forward bends: Feet flexed (i.e. Marichyasana)
- Medium forward bends: Foot semi pointed / flexed (i.e.: Supta Konasana)
Don't let your foot curl! As before, keep the shin lined up with the second toe.
When helping a student: Look first at the foundation
First, look at the foundation setup. You can't build a house on a wobbly foundation- this is a requirement for any case of alignment!
Effect
BY addressing the foundation first, you prepare the student for further support through an adjustment. The student will feel stable and not be frightened as you move into the next step.
Clarifying the foundation and stabilizing the student is always the first step of any adjustment.