The importance of hands and feet in yoga. A cheat sheet for a safe and aligned practice

Dear friend, yoga student and practitioner, that was catapulted into an all levels group studio class or started an online practice without going through the basics, this little guide is for you. 

It includes some of the tricks that helped me stay safe in my yoga journey and understand where my body is in space. 

When practicing yoga, I like to picture my body geometrically. And I mean basic geometry: angles and degrees, parallel and perpendicular lines, curves. 

Both in 2D and 3D, starting from my foundation and moving up.

When learning the fundamental asanas (poses), I invite you to think of your body as a (beautiful) building and your hands and feet as its foundation. A strong foundation means a stable building.

Your foundation
Finding stability first

Part 1: the feet game – rediscovering the ground without shoes. 

Go ahead and take your socks off. Start to walk around in your room without thinking too much notice which part of your foot touches first. 

Now think a bit more, start to walk more mindfully feel how the soles of your feet connect to the floor. 

And now start to connect the whole foot to the ground, from the heel, to the arch, to the toes. Observe.

Stand up with your feet parallel to each other’s and hip width apart. Stand normally and feel how your feet connect to the floor. Start lifting the toes and see if you can separate them as the four corners of the feet (big and little toe mount and two sides of the heel) ground as the arch lifts up. What changes in the muscles of your legs? 

One at a time start lowering your toes, trying to keep the same lift at the arches and the same engagement at shins and thighs. 

See if you can keep that feeling of stable engagement throughout the practice. 

Part 2: hands are not for typing and scrolling – they might be for standing on

Get onto all fours and check your alignment. Hands under elbows under shoulders and knees under hips. 

Spread the fingers wide and align the creases of the wrists with the top of the mat. As you keep spreading the fingers start to turn your middle (or index, explore what feels best) fingers so they are parallel to each others.

Now press the root of your index finger and the thumb down. Use all finger pads to grip into the mat as if you were relying on them during a climb. 

Notice that both the inside and the outside of your arms fire up evenly. And that even power comes up from your hands all the way to your shoulders. That equal strength and strong foundation will keep your wrists safe when your hands are weight bearing.