Standing Nose To Shin

Standing Nose to Shin

Variations for a Solid Foundation

strength

STANDING NOSE TO SHIN

Standing Nose to Shin is an exceptional preparatory posture for Hanumanasana, or Splits Pose, but it is an equally profound posture on its own. It also requires thoughtful preparation, particularly when considering how to optimize the prominent muscle groups that are involved. Your hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, quadriceps, back muscles, and calf muscles are just some of the highlighted areas of the body that require attention for you to realize your full potential in the pose. In today’s video, Matt lays out the path to increased strength, flexibility, and mobility via these 5 preparatory variations of Standing Nose to Shin. What you’ll see are ways to intelligently break down the posture into bite-sized pieces by attempting them in different planes. Working through these variations is not solely a gateway to the posture but an entrance to amplified body balance.

lotus pose online yoga classes

THE SPLITS

  • Improve flexibility of hamstrings, adductors, hip flexors, and glutes
  • Hanumanasana Splits
  • Center Splits
  • Vishvamitrasana
  • Standing Splits / Ekapadasana
  • Extended Side Plank / Vashisthasana
  • Straddle entries for inversions, with modifications for all levels
  • Moderate Vinyasa style with alignment, technique, and biomechanics
  • Sequences are anatomically informed and carefully crafted
  • 12 Classes: All levels appropriate
  • Lifetime unlimited access to all
  • Attend the livestream OR practice the replays any time that’s convenient for you

$148.00

HAMSTRING, HIP FLEXOR, AND QUAD ACTIVATION

Both palpitation and the use of your own body as a prop are great tools in your yoga practice. In the first variation, Matt has you lace your fingers to grasp underneath the belly of your hamstring. Doing this will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of both the strength and stretch sensation in that area of your body. Pressing down into your hands creates an activation. Once you extend your leg, you’ll initiate the technique of reciprocal inhibition—activating the opposing muscle of the one you’re lengthening. In this case, your quadriceps activate while your hamstrings lengthen. This is important because it helps minimize the potential for overstretching the hamstrings.  

Getting your hip flexors more involved means letting go of the grip on your hamstrings and allowing your extended leg to do the work of opposing gravity.

WATCH THE VIDEO

STANDING NOSE TO SHIN: 5 VARIATIONS FOR A SOLID FOUNDATION

STANDING SINGLE LEG AT THE WALL

Using a wall as a prop doesn’t mean that it’s an opportunity to neglect the required muscle activation to prepare for Standing Nose to Shin. This variation is the training ground for the anterior tilt of the pelvis that encourages an increased range of motion. Matt reminds you that even though you fold forward in the final variation, there is still an incorporation of the pelvic tilt.

Along with this pelvic tilt is a lifting of the heart and a backbend, which help you strengthen and activate in order to prepare for the fold in the final variation. 

Another important action for the final variation is the dorsiflexion of your foot. What’s taking place here is the strengthening and intentional activation of the tibialis anterior.  

As you create these activations, the hamstrings can become more vulnerable, so it’s important to stay in tune with the sensations that are taking place there.  

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STANDING SPLITS AT THE WALL

This variation is interesting, because even though you are going more with gravity, there is still opportunity to activate, activate, activate! There’s continued emphasis on activating your quads and glute muscles. As regards the top leg, it’s almost as if you’re trying to lift your leg off of the wall with the glute activation. Doing this mimics the position of the standing leg when you “turn the pose upside down” by standing right side up.

Here, you can also welcome in the deeper fold towards the standing leg. In order to protect the hamstring of the standing leg, you tuck the same-side sit bone while taking your face closer to your shin. Tucking your tailbone produces an activation of the hamstrings and glutes (facilitated stretch) to keep the sit-bone attachment safe.

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300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

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  • Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
  • Expand your teaching skills
  • Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
  • Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
  • Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang
  • Business, branding, marketing, and social media skills

SEATED, SUPINE, AND STANDING

Getting onto the floor offers another chance to imitate the posture with less emphasis on balance. You’re able to continue to work on activating the quadriceps in the lower leg, just as you will in the standing pose.  

In the video, even though Matt is leaning forward towards his shin, you can also see how long and “upright” he appears in his alignment. This gets more range but with increased protection of the spine and whole backline.

Attempting the final variation of Standing Nose to Shin adds layers of challenge. If you carefully complete the 5 stages Matt demonstrates, you’ll be able to uncover the articulations, activations, and ranges that require more attention.

Matt’s in-depth approach goes even further in his 200 & 300 hour teacher trainings. This is where you can dive deeper into the core of multiple postures and their variations.

The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

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Article by Trish Curling

Video Extracted From: Splits Immersion

lotus pose online yoga classes

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Compass Pose

Compass Pose

Variations to Challenge Balance and Flexibility

balance & flexibility

COMPASS POSE VARIATIONS

Compass Pose, especially the variations Matt offers today, will challenge you, and not necessarily in the ways you might think. Most obviously, it will challenge you in the lateral flexion of the spine and the extensive amount of shoulder and hamstring flexibility required, but even more than that are all the lifts, drops, and turns, or maybe better said, the articulations and/or actions in the joints, that make it that much more challenging. However, with challenge comes reward. You’ll see that both variations provide an opportunity to deepen your understanding of the posture because of the step-by-step techniques you’ll follow and because of how your body responds within the posture. After reviewing today’s video clip, you’ll be empowered with 2 variations of Compass Pose that will test your ability to stay present while increasing strength, balance, and flexibility.

lotus pose online yoga classes

THE SPLITS

  • Improve flexibility of hamstrings, adductors, hip flexors, and glutes
  • Hanumanasana Splits
  • Center Splits
  • Vishvamitrasana
  • Standing Splits / Ekapadasana
  • Extended Side Plank / Vashisthasana
  • Straddle entries for inversions, with modifications for all levels
  • Moderate Vinyasa style with alignment, technique, and biomechanics
  • Sequences are anatomically informed and carefully crafted
  • 12 Classes: All levels appropriate
  • Lifetime unlimited access to all
  • Attend the livestream OR practice the replays any time that’s convenient for you

$148.00

ANATOMY OF COMPASS POSE

Although Compass Pose is a seated posture, it does require balance. After all, one leg is lifted while the other is grounded to the floor. Lifting the top leg requires strength in the outer hip muscles (gluteus medius & minimus).  Because you grab hold of the foot of the top leg, you might argue that Compass Pose is both a passive and an active stretch. A healthy approach to this lifting and opening is to activate those outer hip muscles to create more abduction, rather than relying solely on the flexibility of the adductors and the hamstrings. Next up are your shoulders and back muscles. Gaining access to grabbing hold of the foot requires an engagement of the rhomboids to create more opening in the shoulders. In addition, there are 2 actions that are key to putting it all together.

WATCH THE VIDEO

COMPASS POSE: 2 VARIATIONS TO CHALLENGE BALANCE AND FLEXIBILITY

COMPASS POSE VARIATION 1

It’s the 2 additional actions we’ll see now that bring the pose together.

In this variation, the bottom knee is bent. Matt shows you how to “snuggle” into your lifted leg while leaning and putting your weight into the bent (or seated) leg, seting you up for success. Leaning your weight to the side allows for a hike of the hip—the first action. This lifting, along with the activation of the rhomboids to pull your shoulder back, allows you to more easily guide your foot. Matt explains that keeping the hike of the hip means that your pelvis is at an angle in which your leg doesn’t have to fight against the hip joint, ultimately making it easier for shoulder opening. The second action is the internal rotation of the hip as you lift the leg. Internal rotation helps maintain the lift. 

200 Hour Online Teacher Training Certification

200 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET CERTIFIED & DEEPEN YOUR YOGA PRACTICE

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  • Build confidence speaking in front of groups in person and online
  • Learn foundational class structures and templates
  • Learn techniques for a wide range of yoga postures
  • Get certified and highly qualified to teach yoga
  • Yoga Alliance Globally Recognized Certification Program

COMPASS POSE VARIATION 2

In this 2nd variation of Compass Pose, the bottom leg is straight and mimics Center Splits early in the setup. Once you’re in the posture, extending the bottom leg all the way out further challenges your balance and flexibility. In order to maintain better balance, you can emphasize internally rotating through both legs for more stability in your base.  

Now, remember when I mentioned that Compass Pose can be viewed as both an active and a passive stretch? In the full class, Matt takes the pose to the next level and offers the option of letting go of the foot and relying on both the active flexion of the hip and the activation of the outer hips. Do these actions remind you of anything?  If you said Vishvamitrasana, then you’re right. So much of what Matt offers here is exactly what you need to prepare for Vishvamitrasana (also known, among other names in English, as Flying Compass Pose).

300 hour teacher training online

300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET 500 HOUR CERTIFIED AS A MASTER TEACHER

Master your skill set as a teacher through refined techniques, anatomy, biomechanics, sequencing, philosophy, meditation techniques, theming, yoga business, and much more!

  • Get 500 hour certified
  • Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
  • Expand your teaching skills
  • Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
  • Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
  • Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang
  • Business, branding, marketing, and social media skills

WITH CHALLENGE COMES REWARD

The challenges you encounter might be in those finer details (hiking up and internally rotating the hip), or perhaps the inability to balance on one side is preventing you from utilizing the flexibility available to you. If you do find balance, incorporating the internal rotation may either throw off your balance or make it hard to maintain. The truth is that building on one step at a time while honoring the current state of your body will help you reap the rewards over time.  

Matt’s current Splits Immersion will both challenge you and guide you toward the mastery of these techniques.

See you on the mat!

The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

The 300 Hr. Advanced Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

Article by Trish Curling

Video Extracted From: The Splits

Yoga for Core and Breathwork

BREATH OF FIRE

  • Moderate Vinyasa-style classes
  • Core strengthening & integration
  • Master your breath with pranayama practices
  • Access your core in arm balances, heart openers, twists, forward folds, inversions, and more
  • Learn where and how to breathe in challenging postures
  • Each class will include one pranayama (breathwork practice) and several core strengtheners
  • Access your core muscles: deep, superficial, anterior, posterior, and lateral 
  • 12 Classes: All levels appropriate
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$148.00

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full side plank and modifications

FULL SIDE PLANK WITH MODIFICATIONS

STEP-BY-STEP VASHISTHASANA BREAKDOWN

FULL SIDE PLANK

FULL SIDE PLANK AND MODIFICATIONS: VASHISTHASANA

USING THE WALL AS A PROP

Full Side Plank (Vashisthasana) has many modification options and variations to help make it more accessible or more challenging. I love teaching this posture with a foot on the wall to increase stability and provide a frame of reference for shifting the weight out of the hand and into the foot. 

Some people avoid props, thinking of them as a “crutch.” For sure, they can be used as a way to avoid challenges if that is your intention, but they can also be used to increase body awareness and help you develop technique. Props are neither good nor bad; it’s just a matter of how and why you are using them. Is it that you want to avoid challenge or that you want to face challenge intelligently and appropriately?

In the video tutorial below, I show how to modify side plank by placing your top foot on the wall. This reduces the required balance and will allow you to focus on the foundations of the posture, like the strength of your hand and wrist. Press your thumb and pinky fingers into the ground. Then focus on your bottom foot, pressing the instep of your foot into the wall. Eventually, you will be able to place the whole standing foot on the ground, which will give you strength and the power to lift the hips up. Lastly, keep your shoulder externally rotating, as indicated in the video.

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Full Side Plank & Modifications • Vashisthasana at the Wall

This Side Plank tutorial footage is taken from the July 2021 Immersion, titled BALANCE

Full Side Plank Setup

What I don’t discuss in this particular clip is how the setup of this posture is exactly like Wild Thing. This means your pelvis is more open toward the sky, while in standard Side Plank, your feet are stacked. The spine is in a backbend as well, unlike the standard variation, where the spine is neutral.

There are other alignments you could explore, but these will tend to give you the greatest access to the full Side Plank variation where you grab the top foot and extend the leg. If you want to practice the full class, be sure to check out Class #9 of the July 2021 Immersion, called Balance

 

300 hour teacher training online

300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET 500 HOUR CERTIFIED AS A MASTER TEACHER

Master your skill set as a teacher through refined techniques, anatomy, biomechanics, sequencing, philosophy, meditation techniques, theming, yoga business, and much more!

  • Get 500 hour certified
  • Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
  • Expand your teaching skills
  • Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
  • Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
  • Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang
  • Business, branding, marketing, and social media skills

Three Full Side Plank Modifications and Variations

  1. Foot on the Wall: Once you rise up into Wild Thing, place the back foot on the wall and push your weight toward the wall, even if it means both knees are bent. This is not only okay but an indication that you are doing it properly.
  2. Tree Pose: The next step is infinitely more challenging because it requires greater balance and flexibility. Take the foot off the wall, similar to Tree Pose but without placing the foot on your inner thigh (though that is also another variation). I suggest pushing your knee into your hand to get your hip flexors active. Hip flexor strength becomes key when you attempt to straighten the leg. Often the tension of the hamstrings is too much and people have to let go of the foot. If your hip flexors are strong and used to engaging in this position, then they can help out by keeping the top leg closer to your upper body, lessening the chances that you’ll have to let go of the foot when extending the leg up to the sky.
  3. Full Side Plank or “Extended Vashisthasana”: Pull your knee in as tight as possible in order to grab your foot. Either stay as a modification or begin to kick the foot to the sky, straightening the top leg. Pro tip: It’s helpful to keep the bottom, weight-bearing leg bent while extending the top leg upward. 
Arm Balances Online Yoga Classes

VITALITY: RIGOR & RELEASE

Get back to feeling energized and alive with 12 all-levels vinyasa & meditation classes to increase your energy, focus, and mental clarity.

 

  • GET BACK TO FEELING ENERGIZED
  • ALL-LEVELS VINYASA CLASSES
  • HIPS, TWISTS, HEART, SHOULDERS, NECK, AND CORE
  • GUIDED MEDITATIONS TO DE-STRESS, INCREASE FOCUS, AND GAIN MENTAL CLARITY

Can’t Straighten Your Legs?

This is normal and really shouldn’t be your focus. This is an incredibly physically demanding posture that requires extreme flexibility. Even with slightly bent knees, the posture is still visually stunning and, I would argue, even more biomechanically sound because bent knees typically trigger more muscle engagement.

 

 

Edited by 300-hour Chromatic yoga teacher, Donna Morin.

 

TOP RELEVANT RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Balance Immersion: 12 Classes Focused on Balance (video above is taken from this immersion) 

2. Arm Balance Immersion: 12 Classes – 12 Arm Balances

MORE WAYS TO DEVELOP YOUR PRACTICE

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  2. 200 Hour Training: Get certified
  3. 300 Hour Online Training: Get 500hr certified
Arm Balances

ARM BALANCES

Learn 12+ arm balances while expanding your knowledge of the body and increasing your body awareness. All classes are 75 minutes and ALL-levels appropriate 

  • Crow Pose, Side Crow, and variations
  • Flying Pigeon, Koundinyasana 1 & 2
  • Titibhasana, Bhujapidasana
  • Handstand, Forearm Stand, and many more!

 

SALE PRICE: $198.00 $128.00

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THE FREE TECHNIQUE PACK

When You Subscribe, You Will Get Instant Access to

  • the Technique Pack: 15 yoga pose breakdowns
  • exclusive online course discounts
  • exclusive blogs and videos
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Flying Pigeon

FLYING PIGEON

Key Actions to Balance in Flying Pigeon Pose

Flying pigeon

Flying Pigeon: Balance

Flying Pigeon is an exceptionally challenging pose for several reasons–strength, balance, flexibility for starters. Learning to balance on the hands requires tremendous strength in the flexors of the wrist, or what I call in my Handstand Training, “The Brakes”. Appropriately named because strength in the flexors of the wrist is what stops you from falling when you’re on your hands. You will hear me in the video talking about gripping the ground; this is the action that will turn on the brakes. On all fours, grip your fingers into the ground. With one hand, challenge the opposite hand by trying to pick up the fingers off the ground. Let’s say your right hand is on the ground; the right hand tries its best to dig its fingers into the earth. The left hand tries to pick the right hand’s fingers up. Switch roles. Reading about this won’t do anything so you will have to get it in your body to really get it…did it? Great! Let’s continue. Whenever you are on your hands in your yoga practice, maintain this type of activation to build strength in your brakes over time.

Flexibility

I still remember my first flying pigeon. I was in Elena Brower’s Anusara Yoga class. My hips were super tight back then. She had some great techniques to help us open our hips, many of which I still implement into my own practice and share in my online trainings , and immersions.  In one of my recent articles on compass pose, I spoke on the topic that flexibility requires technique more than it does forcing repetitive stretches. To increase flexibility for flying pigeon, you need to target several muscle groups which I call the 4 Quadrants of the hips. All 4 quadrants (front, back, inside, backside) can be targeted within your yoga practice by activating them isometrically through the postures. If you have been practicing live or in person with me, then you are very familiar with this approach and if you haven’t felt the benefits, you will soon with repetition. To give you one example to try, get into warrior 2 and pull your feet toward each other like you are trying to bunch up the mat under your feet. This activates the inner quadrant of the back leg and the back quadrant of the front leg. Over time this will create health in these muscle groups which will directly increase your range of motion.

Arm Balances

ARM BALANCES

Learn 12+ arm balances while expanding your knowledge of the body and increasing your body awareness. All classes are 75 minutes and ALL-levels appropriate 

  • Crow Pose, Side Crow, and variations
  • Flying Pigeon, Koundinyasana 1 & 2
  • Titibhasana, Bhujapidasana
  • Handstand, Forearm Stand, and many more!

 

SALE PRICE: $198.00 $128.00

KEY TECHNIQUES & ORDER OF ACTIONS

THE SET UP

  1. Invert the ankle and drop the hip: This will help you get the foot high up toward the arm pit
  2. Evert to “clamp” the foot: this will help you avoid the sliding of the foot off the arm
  3. Lift opposite knee into arm pit: This will help you avoid the bruising on the triceps, however it requires a great deal of hip flexibility and may not be possible for you at first.

THE BALANCE

  1. Walk the hands forward: its necessary or you wont be able to balance
  2. Grip the ground: these are your brakes – they stop you from falling.
  3. Lean your body forward: This is what takes the weight out of your feet and hips and into your hands so that flight becomes possible
  4. Press front shin down into the arms: this will give you lift off so that you become lighter, if you are more flexible in the hips than this step is very important.
  5. Squeeze your back knee in: this gets your psoas and core active and keeps the weight of the pose forward.
yoga backbend techniques: 12 classes [backbend technique to relieve back pain "bowing the spine']

HIPS & HAMSTRINGS

ONLINE YOGA IMMERSION

  • 12 classes to increase flexibility of the hips and hamstrings
  • Maximize your strength through range of motion
  • Access your pose potential
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  • Sensation-based practices
  • Unlock and strengthen major muscle groups
  • Active, passive, and isometric stretching
  • Improve mobility and stability
  • So much more!

$148.00 $128.00

MORE INFORMATION

Strength

When learning this posture, it is very helpful to pull the back knee into the chest. This will activate the hip flexors and lower abdominals which helps in two ways. First, it helps to keep the shin on the arm if the front hip is tighter. Second, it helps keep the weight of your body forward, which is required to maintain balance in the posture.

This posture can be deceptively challenging, so go easy on yourself if you find it incredibly difficult. Try these tips and remember that strength and flexibility require technique and repetition. Enjoy!

 

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Lifting The Arches of Your Feet

Are Your Arches Lifted?

Setting the foundation for standing postures - Avoid Collapsed Arches

Is your foundation trong?

Setting the foundation of any posture is arguably the most important step you can take aside from breathing of course, which you can simply consider a part of the foundation. You probably have heard me talk about the foundation of arm balances and handstands a million times, but how about standing postures? If you have practiced with me on retreat or at the Elements of Mastery, you already know the importance of what I am about to share with you. If you have not worked with me before, no problem, I am going to take you through a step-by-step approach to building a strong, solid foundation for all your standing postures.

Have you been asked to lift the arches of your foot in a class? Did you know how to do that on your own? Maybe you were told to lift your toes in order to do so, and you probably noticed a loss of connection to stability. Lifting your toes can be a great way to strengthen some of the muscles I am about to share with you, but it is literally just the beginning.

Does it really matter?

This is a great question and I wouldn’t blame you for asking because ultimately knowing the why behind anything we do gives our actions power. So why lift the arches? Consider your feet the foundation of all standing postures. Would you build your extremely expensive one-of-a-kind house on mud, or would you prefer a solid foundation you know will hold up over time? Picture it, a strong, heavy house resting on a muddy foundation, eventually part of the house would start to sink downward while other parts remained strong. The pressure would build and the weakest parts would start to break. This happens in our body, and the weakest points are typically our joints. The joints are weak because they are the place where two or more bones come together for the purpose of movement. If they were too strong, no movement would be available. Gravity is always upon us and pulling us downward. When our bones are properly aligned there is less stress on the joints. However, what if we have an imbalance at the ankle that causes our weight to fall to the inside or outside of the foot? Not only is the ankle or foot at risk but ALL of the joints that exist above it are too because they have to compensate for the new alignment. This is why you could have a pain in your neck that stems from weakness and miss-alignment at the ankle. You feel it in the neck because the neck is compensating for everything below it. This is very important to understand especially if you are a yoga teacher or in any field of physical health. Does it matter…? YES!

The Anatomy

For the purposes of this article, we will talk about two joint actions and the muscle groups that create them: Eversion and Pronation of the ankle which occurs at the subtalar joint. The subtalar joint is just below the ankle joint. The ankle joint allows for the up and down movements of plantar flexion (pointing the foot) and dorsiflexion (flexing the foot), while the subtalar joint allows the foot to rock from side to side. For the purpose of simplicity, we will refer to both of these joints as a collective –  “the ankle”.

The arch of the foot

There are multiple muscles that help to form the arch of the foot. How high someone’s arches are may be due to the structure of the foot – the bones might be shaped in a more flattened position. However, we aren’t concerned with the external look of an arched foot but rather, training the muscles to activate appropriately for our feet. Most of us can use strengthening of these muscles. The way that I found really helps is first learning how to isometrically engage the muscles of inversion and eversion at the same time which forms a “bootstrap” like scenario around the foot. One of the fibula muscles wraps from the outer shin down the outer ankle and attaches near the ball mound of the big toe – That is pretty cool! There are muscles underneath the sole of the foot that when activated in conjunction with the muscles of inversion and eversion allow us to find greater engagement and lift of our arches.

One of the best ways to integrate these actions in your practice is to repeat them throughout your yoga practices. If you are interested in greater balance, stability, and ankle awareness there are two online immersions – 12 class packages that focus heavily on the feet and ankles.

1. The July 2020 Immersion titled The Chakras & the Elements – the Earth and Water practices will provide a profound awakening to the ankles and feet and how they relate to your practice.

2. The August 2020 Immersion titled Journey To Bliss follows a similar format as of July; the first few practices target the ankles and feet. I highly recommended either or both of these immersions.

Everting

ankle strength, heal sprained ankle with yoga

Inverting

ankle strengthening for yoga
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3 Steps To Activate the Core of the Foot

  1. Press the outer edge of the food down.
  2. Maintain this action, and counter engage by pressing the big ball mounted and big toes down.
  3. Drag the big ball mound back toward the inner heel.
inversion of the ankle - arch of the feet

Step 1 - invert the ankle

While you can certainly evert the ankle first, I find for most people it is more effective to start with inverting the ankle when approaching standing postures. For clarity of the action, I am showing it in a seated position – try it seated first so you are very clear on how to invert. When in Warrior 2, press the outer edge of the front foot into the ground until your feel the muscle deep in the calf muscle activating. The ball mound and the big toe might lift when you do this – it is ok for now.

evert the ankle in warrior 2 yoga pose

Step 2: Evert the Ankle

I recommend learning everting when seated – first, pull the outer edges of the feet back, it can be helpful to press the big toe and toe mound forward. When articulating this action properly you will feel the muscles along the outer shin engage. After you are aware of the action, the next part can be challenging. In warrior 2, be sure to maintain the muscle activation of inversion and add eversion by pressing the big toe and toe mound down into the ground, while trying to roll the outer ankle in slightly. Be sure not to fall flat into the inner arch while doing so – if this happens it means you are no longer activating the muscles of inversion, so go back to step 1 and try again.

arch of the foot in warrior 2 yoga pose

Step 3: contract The Arch

While this step is optional, it can be really helpful especially for anyone that gets plantar fasciitis. The idea is to maintain steps 1 and 2 but then add an activation of the musculature along the bottom (plantar side) of the foot. The action is to try and drag the big ball mound of the foot toward the inner heel. Like inversion and eversion, this action can be quite foreign and may take a bit of time until you are able to feel the muscles contract. I really like to focus on this action in the change of seasons when I am switching between different shoes and my feet are trying to adapt to the differences.

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  • Strengthen Your Core
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  • Connect the the 5 Layers called The Kosha's
  • 12 All Levels Live Asana Classes
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The Results

Activating the arch of the foot can be challenging at first. Typically the hardest part is learning how to co-contract opposing muscle groups. When opposing muscle groups contract at the same time, you get lifting and stabilizing of the joints. In this case, when you activate the muscles along the inside and outside the leg, it’s like pulling up your bootstraps and stabilizing the ankle. As a wonderful result, the arch of the foot pulls up.

Integration

 To fully integrate these actions into your practice you will need repetition throughout all of your standing postures. Try it in your next class, or if you want a full workshop that incorporates these exact actions throughout, check out Hips: Rock Em and Unlock Em workshop below.

Thanks for stopping by. Leave a comment if this post has been helpful, or if you have questions or requests for future posts.

October Livestream Yoga Classes

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  • 2 Guided Meditations
  • 6 Different Peak Postures 
  • Compass Pose Full Length Class
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THE FREE TECHNIQUE PACK

When You Subscribe, You Will Get Instant Access to

  • the Technique Pack: 15 yoga pose breakdowns
  • exclusive online course discounts
  • exclusive blogs and videos
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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