This week we have been focusing on the feet in practice. Reading the body is part of what yoga teachers do to help students hone to find the asana sweetspot.
The feet are like the rudders and anchors of the boat and align the legs and upper body during standing practice. The roots of the tree is another useful metaphor.
One hyper mobile students feet were causing instability, by spreading the toes and activating the roots of the toe pads (pada bandha); her little toes especially held so much power on not wobbling in warrior poses and activating her arches.
A 1:1 student whose feet are at 10 to 2 with knees following, for him we work a lot on mindful alignment of the feet slowly but surely towards parallel, guiding the knees back towards the middle. This is suring up the architecture of the body and how we can build strength and ease through alignment.
Over time yoga postures which feel laboured and heavy to begin, become light and easeful. I love to marry technique with metaphor and ideas, inviting whole person presence and healing.
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