Forward Bends

[Devlin7]

Hi I have just starting teaching yoga at a local studio. The studio is lined with mirrors and I noticed that while performing a forward bend that my left leg was bent slightly even though my right leg is straight. I had an accident many years ago that crushed my right knee. I figured that one leg is shorter/longer than the other which is very common. My question is ...Is it better to work both legs being straight and upset the balance of the hips or have the hips level during forward bends. Obviosuly this is more of an issue when performing standing forward bends, when seated there is nothing preventing one foot being an inch or two different.

Do we learn to adapt with what we have? How can I ask my students to straighten through the legs when I can't demonstrate it myself?

[yogiforlife]

Originally Posted by Devlin7

Hi I have just starting teaching yoga at a local studio. The studio is lined with mirrors and I noticed that while performing a forward bend that my left leg was bent slightly even though my right leg is straight. I had an accident many years ago that crushed my right knee. I figured that one leg is shorter/longer than the other which is very common. My question is ...Is it better to work both legs being straight and upset the balance of the hips or have the hips level during forward bends. Obviosuly this is more of an issue when performing standing forward bends, when seated there is nothing preventing one foot being an inch or two different.

Do we learn to adapt with what we have? How can I ask my students to straighten through the legs when I can't demonstrate it myself?

I've often wondered this as well. I use a mirror whenever I can and notice when i do forward bends that one leg seems to be extended farther, never occurred to me that one leg might be longer than the other, just assumed one was tighter than the other which I notice in other poses.

[xela]

My right leg is 3/8ths of an inch longer than my left so I almost always can feel and notice the difference.

[Sunflower]

I am not that good when it comes to yoga, but I do know a thing or two about hips and uneven legs.

Almost all of us have one leg longer than the other, and almost all of us have hips/pelvics that shifts slightly to one side (either to the left or right, or it can be slightly "rotaded").

I know that my left leg is longer than the right, and my right hip is tighter than my left and slightly shifted forward compared to the left one.

What has worked for me in yoga (and in horse back ridning which has a lot in common with yoga) is to keep my hips level, because if I work with both legs straight (or in the saddle; with my stirrups equally long) I create tention in my back, since the shift in the hips goes up all the way through the back.

This may not affect a more well trained person as much as is affects me, but I am a firm beliver in keeping the base of the body, which for me is the hips/pelvics, level as much as you can.

So I would say that you should keep the hips level in the forward bend, and work on the extention of the legs individually.

How ever, I don't think that the one-leg-longer-than-the-other-thing is an issue for all of us even though none of us have eqaully long legs, but if the difference is so big that you can see it, then I think you should pay it some attention.

I really hope that some of what I written makes sense, it's hard to write in these things in English.

/Jenny

[Hubert]

Even athletic beautifully shaped people have small defects. The unevenness of the sides might have something to do with us being one handed (right handed mostly) I noticed that most people have their right shoulder in a lower position, the right arm is usually stronger and with higher dexterity, the right hip tends to get out, and so on.

These are results of long term unilateral use. Yoga first makes you aware of these, than you can help alleviate them to get your balance back.
The weaker, stiffer parts require more attention. And of course there are defects what won't disappear in this life. A badly healed bone won't really get much better doing yoga. It might improve through constant effort, but it takes years. Of course, we should not underestimate the healing capacity of the body - (the "etheric" body) but perhaps having a perfect body is not that important as other things. The healing capacity of the mind is infinite ... there are no obstacles in the way of a controlled mind.

As the sculptor Brancusi said (I consider him one of my masters) "No moral energy ever gets lost in the universe". So perseverance always will be rewarded, as it will patience, and self control. Sometimes we will have to face defeat, despair, sorrow. But our efforts are never in vane.

[yogaterra]

I prefer not to put too much on what we look like in a mirror. Mirrors can sometimes have flaws in them that may make something look a bit distorted. If you would not have noticed in a mirror would you have felt fine about your forward bend? I also believe that the mirrors can bring us to ego. Just because you are a yoga teacher does not mean evey pose you demo needs to be perfect, often I find that I am not as good as my class in certain shoulder streches because of the tightness I have gotten from being a server for years. As a student I have never judged my teachers ability or judged how far into a pose my teacher could get into compared to others. We are all build very different and have had different life styles that make us more of less fexible/strong even genetics play a big role. If your forward bend does you good and feels right so what if one leg has a slight bend...let your students know how to find their edge. It is most important not to hurt during a pose not how it looks.
Bright blessing )0(

[InnerAthlete]

There are two initial issues. The first is a difference in leg length as a result of shear or malalignment in the pelvis. The second is an anatomically shorter limb, which is typically revealed by x-rays (of which I am not a fan but sometimes they are essential).

The asanas are done to the lowest level. So if you are forced anatomically to have the left leg bent then it is appropriate to bend the other knee to work at its level.

As for teaching students, we do not teach students our weaknesses. So if there are poses you are not able to demo then have another student demo for you and pick one that shows what it is you are trying to convey to the group. It is not an issue of asking students to do something (straighten the legs) that you are physiologically unable to do. Of course the teacher should have asana in the body before imparting it to students. That is integrity. But you do not need to perfect the pose in your body to teach it.
Simply tell them you've got an injury or anatomical difference and they should, if healthy, work to do the pose as you are instructing it.