Guest guest Posted February 10, 2001 Report Share Posted February 10, 2001 Hi,<br><br>I have a tendency to hyperextend my elbows while in down dog. Aside from being more thoughtful during my practice, is there anything I can do in terms of modification of the pose to prevent this? It's pretty painful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2001 Report Share Posted February 10, 2001 Namaste<br><br>One of my teachers (Ken) has been stressing some techniques, that he learned from Richard Freeman, in many of his classes these days. When in down dog he says to keep the shoulders rolled down the back, as in the Mountain Pose, with the shoulders rolling out, the elbows slightly bent (or as much as you need to) in the normal direction (not the hyper extending) and the forearms rolling slightly in with the palms wide and flat sucking up energy from the earth. This is very stable and it has helped me open up my chest and upper back with out elbow or shoulder strain. When doing UP Dog he says the same thing, shoulders down the back, elbows in to the body and bent as you use your arms to pull your spine long like a thirsty yogi dragging across the desert.<br>So just play around. I use the "microbend" technique with my elbows and knees in the standing poses. I have found this also gives me more stability and awareness to my body. Well, I hope this helps. I am a student and I do not know if I should even give advice. All I can say is that it helps me and if it hurts you or feels strange then please just forget what I have said.<br><br>Namaste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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