A question regarding dragon poses and my hips bone structure

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YogiBalance
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:33 am

A question regarding dragon poses and my hips bone structure

Post by YogiBalance »

Hi Bernie,

1. Should i press the ankle and/or forefoot to the ground when doing baby dragon and dragon flying high poses or the other dragon poses for that matter?

2. I learned that i need to move my legs a bit further from my hips when doing the different poses because my hips seem to protrude and hit the bone of my upper legs if my legs are straight. I learned this after 2 years of doing yin yoga. Better late than never. Luckily i don't seem to injure myself. I learned to listen to my body and take a step back when feeling a pain or tingling (your article about pain also helped) and not to my ego. Do you have the same "problem" with your hips? How come is this protruding hips? I wonder if there are studies about how many people have this body shape or that body shape, is it a racial thing? etc.
I think it would be great if you make a video about how and why it is important to modify the different yin poses to the shape of the body like in my case and give examples. I think teachers don't mention this enough.

Btw, the "a list of asanas" page is always open on my pc and mobile browsers. So informative, i learn so much from it.

Thanks in advance!
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Post by Bernie »

Here are my thoughts:

1) Yin is allowing. Why "press" anything to anything? Allow your front foot to relax in the Dragons. Perhaps, for stability, in the High Flying Dragon you may need a bit of stiffness there, but overall...chill! ;-)

Having said that, for some people (those will super lax ligaments or an injury to the ankle or foot), some stiffness may be appropriate. How to know? Check it out: experiment and see what works best for you.

2) I am not sure what you mean by "protruding hips": do you mean that the ASIS is more prominent? (That's the anterior superior iliac spine or those bumpy points at the front/top of your pelvis.) For some people their ASIS are more anteverted and more likely to impinge on the top of the thigh in a variety of hip flexion postures, like dragons, child's pose and other deep forward folds. That is very ouchy...one solution: abduction! Separate the legs or wing your knee and foot outward! This will allow you to go around the point of impingement and linger longer in the postures. I discuss this in detail in my book Your Body, Your Yoga. I may also mention this in my videos on Dragon, but can't remember right now.

Cheers
Bernie
YogiBalance
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:33 am

Post by YogiBalance »

1. Oh, i figured out i was positioning my arms and body too high pressing to a chair because i was afraid i am not flexible enough to lower my body low enough, that is why my weight was not distributing well, so i put a bolster and a pillow on top of it on the floor and put my hands and arms weight on it and suddenly the dragons feel stable and i don't feel the need to press my front foot to the floor. Should the weight be on the arms and upper body when doing baby dragon, dragon flying high and the other dragon poses?

2. Yes, my ASIS seem to be more prominent. i added a slight abduction in the legs to all of my yin poses which may cause asis pain, what a change! Suddenly the poses feel more... right, i almost don't feel any pain.

3. which are the best beginner yin poses for people with tight hamstrings? I'm doing caterpillar pose but i need to raise my knees high, it feels right, i feel a nice stretch in my back and upper body but i don't feel any stretch in my hamstrings. I do other yin poses other than caterpillar but i would like to sometimes focus on my hamstrings a bit more.

4. When you know something you realize you know nothing or half of what is true, and the ego always creeps in. Bernie, do you still feel that in your practice after many years of learning and teaching yin?
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Post by Bernie »

1) The weight should be wherever you feel solid, stable and still feeling sensation in the target areas. Don't worry about aesthetics! Seek sensation.

2) Great! This means you have found the "proper" alignment for your Dragon et al.!

3) Any pose that generates a sensation in the back of the legs will work your hamstrings. Who cares if your knees are bent? Are you feeling it in the hamstrings? If so, that is a good pose for you. Caterpillar, Straddle, Butterfly and Half-Butterfly can all create some stress there. So can Dangling.

4) The more you know, the more you realize how much don't know. That is never ending and I get those realizations all the time!

Cheers
Bernie
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