alignment problems

Hello Jacquie

This may take a little to-ing and fro-ing.

Re your arms: when you say you are difficulties keeping arms straight can you tell me what happens and at what point? Can you get your arms ‘behind’ or near the ears? Are you trying to squeeze your head with your arms? Are you trying to drop your shoulders away from the ears or are you shrugging your shoulders? What if any tension do you have in your neck?

Re the pose in general: Read the ideas below. Generally those who have problems with this pose are newbies. However I have a feeling that you are not in this category and it is a problem unrelated to ‘ego’ or newness. New students often strive to get the same depth as the regulars around them. Their torso twists, the chin drops, the eyes look down a bit, the arms move forward, the weight falls forward toward the toes forcing the body forward. The fixes below will take care of all that.

The first thing that comes to mind is that I think that we can look at setting up well because in this pose, the set-up IS the pose. I have a feeling that your body may be too far placed toward the mirror. It may mean that adjusting your shoulders makes you feel a little unstable. So I will give you some distinctions so that you can feel as if you are lifting up and out but also bringing the weight back.

@ arms over head, steeple grip, arms back and chin parallel to ground
@ squeeze bottom and push hips forward
@ bring arms back and make sure chin is kept lifted
@ very importantly bring the weight back into the heels a bit.

Let me explain… you feel as if you are arching your spine and standing in a little bit of a back bend. Imagine that there is a ‘hook’ under your sternum and as it pulls up, your chest lifts, but it also has the effect of opening the chest AND dropping the shoulders down and back and opening your shoulders. In effect your body is quite active in set-up and stays that way for the pose in this configuration as well as working the side bend in on top.

To go into the pose
@ Inhale stretch up very tall to keep space in vertebrae and as you exhale move your body to right and hips to left. You know the score.
@ Instead of moving the ‘right shoulder forward’ as most will command, try instead to move the left shoulder back, while keeping that ‘hook’ under your sternum, the hips forward and the weight back a little in the heels. You had a slight backbend in set-up so you want that in the pose. Think LIFT, think hips forward, think arms back, think chin up.

This may change a little depending on what answers you give me regarding your arms. So just let me know.

If you have returned from a practice hiatus 😉 then perhaps your mind wants your body to go where it used to go and not where it should go. That is always a possibility. If you are having continual difficulty then don’t go in as far, just work on the alignment before depth.

The left side issue is interesting. Usually students have an easy side. And that is going to be due largely to imbalances in the spine or muscle development or both. For example left side alignment is more challenging for me due to my underlying scoliosis. I can never go as far in left side as the right. And, after I had my daughter, with years of child carrying, the scoliosis returned to a degree because of the way I was using my body. The pose became more difficult again. So perhaps you can think of something that has occurred in your life that has you using your body differently. Just a thought :cheese:

Hmmm… a little homework!

Look forward to hearing from you
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂