Rib flare in Downward Dog

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi all!

I have been practicing Yoga for 8 or so years and only teaching for 2. I have done my fair share of downward dog…and I feel like I understand the alignment with others’ bodies. But with my own, I can’t tell what is healthy or not anymore in this pose! I have learned that I am hyperflexible in my lower back and in my ribs, so if I am being sloppy at all, my ribs jut out in my downward dog and you can see the line of energy being cut in half from my hands to my pelvis. I engage uddiyana bandha and mula bandha and it feels like it helps but today I was doing a fun photo shoot with a friend to have some pictures of poses and even though I FELT like I was in the proper alignment, my ribs are still flaring out in the picture.

Does anyone have any advice? I feel like I am taking the opportunity to use the bandhas and my abdominal muscles but maybe not enough? One struggle I find, not only with my personal practice of the pose but also in my teaching, is FEELING the stretch…because I am so hypermobile in the lower back and open in the hamstrings. It’s like instinctively I am pushing too far just so I can feel something. I appreciate any help! Take care!

Namaste!
Ali

#2

Seems to me the picture is the only thing missing from this post.
Is it not the most revealing of things at this moment? If you are not comfortable posting it that is perfectly fine though.

Relative to uddiyana it is not applied in active poses and my teacher, Aadil Palkhivala, has explained this briefly on the Yoga Journal blog site from the Boston Conference several years ago. I cannot possibly state it better than he so here is the link to it. It is at the very bottom of the comments.

#3

Thank you for the link! I will check that out…and I will try to get this picture scanned so I can post it soon. Thanks again!

#4

Hi

Aside from Uddiyana Bhanda, Rectus Abdominus is the strongest muscle attaching to the ribs and can hold them in.

Actually from what you describe re: hypermobility you can probably hold Uddiyana and the rib flare gets worse. This is because of the action of the Diagphragm which causes…da da da…rib flaring.

Take an easy DD look at your belly and push it out, the ribs should naturally be drawn in, this is just the beginning but its fun to play with.

Good Luck