The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Garudasana › 'Dead' toes
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Hey!
Lately I’ve been sitting down more and more in this pose and I’ve noticed that on my left side, my three middle toes will turn white and will start to cramp after a while. Like somehow the pose is disrupting all blood flow to those toes. I know a temporary disruption of the blood flow is kind of the point, but is it supposed to turn into cramps? Will this go away by itself? Or should I just take it easy for a while and not sit down as much?
Thanks for your responses!
Love, Anna DeniseHi Anna Denise
Is it possible that the more you slide yourself down that the more you are tensing your foot on that side?
Oh, no, to answer the question. It’s not supposed to cramp. If this is the only time anything cramps in your practice the problem may just be confined to this pose. If you do get cramps or tingling in other poses or situations then we would be exploring other avenues.
Let’s first go down this road because I am pretty sure I can see what’s happening here.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hey Gabrielle,
Thank you for your quick reply! No, it doesn’t happen in any of the other poses and it’s only when I try to sit down real low like the teacher tells us, and only on the left side. It’s both when I’m standing on the left leg and when I’m wrapping the left leg around the right. Funny thing is, the other standing postures don’t cause this.
Have a wonderful day!!!
Love, Anna DeniseHi Anna Denise
Can you tell me please if this is the order of events for you?
Wrap arms
Sit as low as you can
Wrap legs
Try to lift your body off your legsOr does it happen in another way?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Gabrielle,
That sounds about right, except I usually work on also getting my legs in the center and tilting my hips slightly. So:
Wrap arms
Sit as low as I can
Wrap legs
Tilt hips so they’re leveled and legs & arms are in the same line
Sit down more
Try to straighten my back more (it’s pretty straight, I think)The dead toes usually happen at the point after I’ve tilted my hips and sit down more. I think I could sit down more without falling, but the cramps usually get to me before then.
Love, Anna Denise
Hi Anna Denise
I think you may have an issue with following scripted instructions and missing something vital. It’s such a common issue. I see this happen the world over.
Can you please next time (or even now) try something different?
>> Wrap your arms
>> Sit into your eagle pose with your body as upright as you can possibly manage it. Your knees will be bent and you won’t be sitting with your hips as low as you probably have had them. Sitting low as you can, as the dialog says, will mean you bend forward to achieve the instruction. Feet are well weighted in this position, butt sticks out a tad and spine arches with chest up over the hips.
>> Now wrap the legs
>> Now slide down into the pose WITHOUT bringing your body forward one little bit.
Hip alignment is easier to maintain. Wrap is easier.Can you tell me how that foot feels now (after a couple of goes, as I say, even now or in class)?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Anna Denise
Any updates on the ‘dead toes’? How did your experiment go?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Gabrielle,
Yes, sorry for taking some time to answer you. I wanted to give your advice a couple of tries in class before replying.
Focusing on keeping the back straight definitely is a different feeling and approach to the pose and I’m having difficulty to get into it and sit down as low as I could before, which I am assuming will improve with practice. I’ve definitely had less ‘dead toes syndrome’ these past few weeks, so it seems your method is definitely one I want to keep doing! (One small note, though: yesterday was pretty bad again (but I was tired, so maybe leaning forward more than usual) and I’m guessing it’s because pretty much all of my weight seem to be in the toes. Every time I try to bring it onto the heel to relieve the toes a bit – I fall).
Thanks so much Gabrielle! I’m going to keep practicing the way you described!
Lots of love, Anna DeniseHi Anna Denise
It seems you are exploring the limits of your balance and it’s bringing you good results. Don’t lean forward at all if you can help it! I know you’re trying hard and I love getting your updates with your progress
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hey Gabrielle,
Just wanted to let you know that I’ve been working on your technique and it has really helped me. Mostly, the ‘dead toe syndrome’ seems to have disappeared.
Thank you so much!!!
Love, Anna Denise
Fantastic news Anna Denise!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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