You Might Be Missing These 3 Key Components in the Feet

Standing balance postures can sometimes be a source of frustration in our physical yoga practice. We all have moments like this on the mat, and awareness of the difference between each side of the body often develops into a narrative that we have a “good side” and a “bad side.” Being aware of these differences, however, actually creates opportunity. Awareness deepens our understanding of where we need to focus our attention, so that we can develop and transform the experience we have in our bodies and shift the narrative. Over time and with consistent practice, we build strength and, eventually, better balance.

When it comes to the biomechanics of any posture, the magic lies in the most subtle movements. In my experience, there are 3 key components for building confidence and ease in standing balance postures. In this tutorial video, we will look at how these components apply to the Ardha Chandrasana set-up.

Doing The Groundwork

Doing the groundwork means exactly that. The foundation of our postures is built from the ground up. Once we understand this, we can slowly build upon this foundation. When it comes to finding steadiness in our standing balance postures, we must look at what’s happening with our feet. The position of our feet, strength of the ankles, and recruitment of the buttock muscles translates to stability in the hips. But how can we do this, and what does it look like?

LET’S SET IT UP

With your shin bone vertical to your ankle, lift all your toes up and away from your mat; this will help to activate and strengthen your tibialis anterior (the muscles in front of your shin bone). While doing this, be mindful not to send unequal weight into either side of your foot. Send equal weight into the earth. This is the first step in creating awareness and an imprint of this action into your body.

3 Key Components You Might Be Missing

1. Pressing down through the big toe (and big toe mound) creates eversion of the foot. This builds sensation in the fibularis group of muscles (muscles in the outer shin). 
2. Pressing down through the pinky toe (and pinky toe mound) creates inversion of the foot, which helps to create a “fanning” of the three middle toes.  Lifting these 3 toes helps to activate the tibialis anterior. When these actions are put into place, we will find that the tibialis posterior muscles also activate (muscles inside of the shin).
3. Pushing down through the heel recruits the calf and buttock muscles. 

All of these actions together create maximum support around all four sides of the ankle joint, unlocking our ability to transform our balance experience.

These are the foundations we can build upon.  It’s also important to understand that we come to our physical yoga practice with an awareness that not all pieces of the puzzle always fall into place right away. Visualizing the process is a powerful first step that helps to build a neurological pathway. Then we take action, and we can even help ourselves by applying our own assists. We can get curious about parts of the body not responding to the signal from the brain quite yet. It doesn’t mean that it will never happen; it just means that it may require more patience, consistency, and time.

2020 IMMERSIONS

CROW POSE TUTORIAL: FIND FULLNESS TO FIND STABILITY

THE ANATOMY OF CROW POSE

The scapula is a sturdy bone that is flat in shape. “Flat bones provide protection and a place for broad muscles to attach.” (Long, Raymond A. MD, FRSC, The Key Muscles of Yoga, Bandha Yoga Publications LLC, 2006, pg. 11)

This is where we find our rotator cuff muscles (subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor). The rotator cuff muscles are responsible for stabilizing the head of the humerus (upper arm bone) within the shoulder (glenohumeral joint).

The shoulder, like the hip, is a ball-and-socket joint allowing for a great deal of range of motion. It allows for an even greater range of motion than the hip because of the upper arm bone’s shallow placement in the shoulder joint. This extra range of motion comes with a price — it leaves our shoulders vulnerable, with limited stability. That doesn’t mean “game over.” With awareness of this area and activation of the stability within other parts of the body, we can create a more balanced relationship between mobility and stability in the shoulder.

The scapula, on the other hand, is stabilized by the muscles of the serratus anterior and the rhomboids.

There are 4 main movements of the scapula:

1. Retraction — through the actions of trapezius, rhomboids, and latissimus dorsi muscles
2. Protraction — through the actions of serratus anterior, pectoralis major, and pectoralis minor muscles
3. Elevation — through the trapezius, levator scapulae, and rhomboid muscles 
4. Depression — through the force of gravity and actions of the latissimus dorsi, serratus anterior, pectoralis major and minor, and trapezius muscles 

Cowan PT, Mudreac A, Varacallo M. Anatomy, Back, Scapula. [Updated 2021 Aug 11]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531475/

(There are other movements of the scapula, but in this tutorial, we focus on protraction.)

CROW POSE ACTIONS

As Matt is setting up Bakasana, we see how important it is to find this fullness when we go into protraction of the scapulae. This fullness extends beyond the shoulders, all the way into the arms and even into the fingers. Here, our breath body meets the actions of our physical body through the fullness and expansion at the back and into our fingers, strengthening not only the posture but the serratus anterior muscles and the shoulder girdle.

With increased stability and strength, we actually find a lightness that Matt talks about and demonstrates so that we can find the elevation required to sustain Crow Pose.