Monday, April 13, 2009

heel levitation

My flexibility and patience have increased tremendously since I started yoga. My stress has been lowered. So why won't my heels do the same?

My heels suffer from "I'm-not touching-the-floor-itis" whenever I go into downward dog. It's not uncomfortable for me to hold the pose, but the modified one-legged downward dog gets pretty tiring after a couple of repetitions.

A little Googling revealed that I'm not the only one with this issue, but apparently there are some people whose heels never touch the ground. Is that true? I hope my heels are Earthbound someday.

3 comments:

  1. My heels don't touch the floor in downdog, and I teach yoga! I just have very tight hamstrings. They are better than they were but I don't know if they'll ever loosen up fully. I think the high number of yoga teachers who came into the job after growing up as dancers has kind of heightened our expectations too much. Normal people aren't that naturally flexible. I was in a yoga class this evening and not one student (including myself) was able to put their chest on their knees in seated forward bend.

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  2. One of my old yoga instructors used to tell us that if you're heels are touching the ground, then you've stopped reaching and stretching. So the point isn't the have them touch the ground, but to continue reaching and stretching your body. Not sure if she just told us that to make us feel better or what, but I think of it each time I'm in the pose :)

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  3. I like that!

    I stopped doing yoga around the same time that I stopped posting here, but I have a great interest in starting again. Just need a new mat. :D

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