Random Questions from my practice

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hey guys and gals,

I came across this forum a few weeks ago and have been enjoying reading some of the discussions (even the poor 22 year old who can’t seem to find a girlfriend - I’m with ya buddy!) that have been posted on this forum. It’s nice to see that it is active as well. Anyways, I have a few questions of my own that I’m hoping maybe some of you advanced Yogis might be able to help me with. They’re random, so I’m just going to put them forward and hope some of y’all can help.

In no particular order:

  1. How far apart should my feet be on downward dog? Coming from upward dog the legs are usually together… so should I just spread them apart as I roll through? AND is it better to keep the feet where they land from rolling into down dog, or is it okay to move them a half step forward to “deepen” the stretch? Not sure if that last part of the question makes sense.

  2. In warrior 1, should the back foot run forward just like the front leg with heel pushing towards the ground, or should the back foot be perpendicular like it is in triangle pose?

  3. Occasionally when I do seated forward bend with leg bent, I notice that my left hip bone (which I do after the right side) interferes with my stretch. It’s not uncomfortable… but it kind of protrudes into my abs as I bend over them. I think the answer is to re-adjust before I move into the pose and pull the bottom of the butt back, but I’m curious if anyone has an answer for this.

  4. My wid leg forward bends (whether standing or sitting) suck. I really don’t have much flexbility there at all. Tips?

  5. Most of the time when I do a locust and then move into the locust where I grab my shins and pull into the air… that I’ve been experiencing a sharp pain in one of my legs. I don’t push it… but any suggestions on why that pain might be happening and how to rid it. It’s the only pose where I experience any sort of pain… it’s different than the stretching.

  6. I practiced Yoga in the morning for the first time last week. It was certainly invigorating, but I noticed that my body is nowhere near as nimble in the morning as it is in the the evening when I come home from work. Everything I’ve read about Yoga suggests that it’s best to do it in the morning… but is this assuming that you’ve woken up an moved around a bit? I literally woke up and walked to the mat so I can’t imagine it was the best idea. But what do you guys do? Do you go for a quick run first or something to get the blood moving? I don’t want to eat first because I don’t want that floating around in my body while I’m moving… and I don’t want to shower first because I will just end up wanting a shower after. What are your experiences on this?

  7. Last question. I’m pretty conscious of my breathing throughout the practice, but when I get into corpse pose I’m not good at letting go of the breath. I become aware of it, but can’t seem to not interfere with letting my natural rhythm take hold… It’s certainly not relaxing by any means because every 3rd of 4th breath I end up taking a big gulp of air. Anyone else experience this and have pointers?

So these are quite a few questions… and they’re longer than how I imagined they would sound in my head lol. But if you do have some time to respond to one or any of the questions, I would certainly appreciate it

Thanks!
Ray

#2

Hey and welcome!

As far as the 6th question is concerned, sometimes it’s not good to focus on your breathing too much. If the breathing process causes problems with concentration and makes you feel any discomfort, let it go and let your body develop most natural breathing pattern. Then try again and see what happens.

#3

[B][I]Adho Mukha Svanasana[/I][/B]
The feet are (parallel and…) the width of your sitting bones in the pose unless you are doing classical surya namaskar in which case they are together. Of course this isn’t law and it has to be malleable in some instances.

[B][I]Virabhadrasana I[/I][/B]
If the student (you) is bringing the pelvis around toward the front wall (on the back leg side of the pose) then the back foot absolutely has to be turned in. Otherwise the action of the pelvis and the fixation of the foot create damage in the ligaments of the knee. A very common injury in yoga due to a) overly aggressive students and poor teaching. The back foot should not be perpendicular to the front in that pose at all please.

[B][I]Janu Sirsasana[/I][/B]
This would depend on the anatomy and symmetry of your body and the angle you are keeping your bent leg relative to the pelvis. In that particular pose your hamstrings need to be open and the spine stays neutral such that the naval, sternum and forehead are on the extended leg in that order of contact.

[B][I]Upavishta Konasana[/I][/B]
Keep the quadriceps contracted throughout, the kneecaps facing the ceiling and take a foam pad(s) or folded blanket under the rear of the sitting bones so that the pelvis tips forward. The rest is simply having an appropriate asana practice that you do daily and a lifestyle that doesn’t build stiffness in body or mind.

[B][I]Salabhasana to Dhanurasana[/I][/B]
Without more information about the pain, it’s location, and nature it would be conjecture at best.

An asana practice in the morning is not the same as an asana practice in the evening.
Classically there were two practices but most of us are not practice 6 hours per day and so there’s one practice per day. You are exactly correct. In the morning the body is stiff but the mind alert. In the evening the body has warmed up but the mind is sluggish. Yoga is designed to balance human living. Ergo the practice suits the context.

[B][I]Savasana[/I][/B]
Someone has told you to “let go of the breath”? How about if you simply let go of the instruction and do only three things - commit to being still, place no will on the breath at all, and allow the exhalation to drop the physical body down into the floor. The gulping usually results from an apnea but that’s not the topic here