Hi there. I’m currently in training and came across a fellow student not really being able to feel the stretch and elongation of the spine along the back side of the body. Is it a good idea to hold weight bearing sandbags to make the force of gravity more prominent so that she may feel it better? Or should she stand on blocks/higher elevation to drop down even further? Or is there a pose variation she could try to feel the back stretch?
Thanks for your post. I would love to know more about this particular student. Is she not feeling anything because she is super flexible and just flops over, or is it because she is so stiff that she can't get into the poses?
All your ideas are worth exploring as long as you are advising the student to pay attention. We do want to feel something, but nothing painful or so challenging that she can't stay in the pose very long. Sandbags are often used to increase sensation or direct the stress to the targeted areas. Standing on blocks would only be useful if the students was already bringing her torso very low, which I doubt is the case (is her head hitting the floor?).
Remember, we have many ways to create a stress in one targeted area: if one way doesn't work, try another pose. For example, Snail pose is a lovely way to stress the backside of the spine and legs, especially for very flexible students who don't feel anything.
if she is very flexible in the hips, then Dangling really won't create much flexion in the thoracic spine or neck; it will all come from flexion of the hips, and lumbar spine flexion. She may get some traction, an axial extension of the spine. If she desires more mid to upper back flexion stress, then Caterpillar over a bolster or Snail pose would be better.
