Proper
placement of the hands and feet is very important to prevent injury. If hands
aren’t properly aligned, we can have wrist and shoulder problems. If feet
aren’t aligned, knees and hips become vulnerable. By learning these basic
alignment principles, we can protect ourselves in our asana practices.
For
hands, begin by placing your hands flat on your mat. Imagine there is a line
between your peace fingers (pointer and middle). That line should bisect the wrist. Another
way to check the placement is to see if the crease in your wrist is parallel to
the short edge of your mat. Make sure all of your fingers are evenly spread
out, including your thumb. Next, firmly press down through the mound of the
index finger. It has a natural tendency to pop up, which can weaken and tweak
the shoulders. To help alleviate the weight in the wrists, press down through
the finger pads. Using this alignment in Downdog, Chatturanga and any pose on
hands and knees will greatly protect your wrists and shoulders!
Feet
alignment is also very important, especially in standing poses. They are your
foundation, your roots. The first place to start is to see how far apart they
are. You want your feet about inner hip distance. This changes if you have
tighter or looser hamstrings, but inner hip distance works for most. Similar to
the hands, you want your second toe to bisect the ankle. Following this
alignment ensures that your feet are parallel and not turning in or out,
neither of which is good for the knees. Next, you want to find the balance
between all of the points of your foot. The term, “four corners of your feet”
is often heard in yoga classes. The four corners are: the mound of the big toe,
inner edge of the heel, mound of the pinky toe, and outer edge of the heel.
Lifting your toes and shifting your weight back and forth and side to side will
help you find your optimal balance. People with tighter hamstrings tend to put
more weight in the heel, and thusly, more flexible people tend to put more
weight in the balls of their feet. After you find your balance, you can place
your toes back down and enjoy the steadiness of your roots. Following these
guidelines will improve your Tadansana and Forward Fold. The same principles
apply in almost any pose where your feet are on the ground. Generally, just the
angle of one foot will change depending on the pose, like Warrior II and
Triangle.