Downward Dog Heels Can T Touch Floor

This is only one example of how the zaichik stretching technique in our downward facing dog program can demonstrate the ease of movement provided through a yoga pose or exercise.

Downward dog heels can t touch floor. Stay tuned for the next tip to get your heels closer to the floor in downward facing dog if you still need an extra push after this exercise. This cue can give you and your students that extra bit of length in the calf muscles and enable you to lower the heels. And it may or may not have anything to do with flexibility. I read your post earlier and could not touch floor with my heels in downward dog but today hurray i actually managed to do it.

I think its a matter of time and flexibility. These individuals may never get their heels to the floor in downward facing dog but can work on all the other joints above the ankle as well as soft tissue to get as close as possible. Hypomobility not typically the biggest problem for yogis can be local as in the example above or generalized. As long as you are pushing to stick to butt to the sky in your downward dog then you are progressing it.

Thus a tight gastroc soleus complex can keep you from getting the heels to the floor in dog pose. In his video he demonstrat. The down dog cues i use encourage students to keep feet hip width and heels reaching towards the floor but slightly off the floor. Slowly you might build on flexibility and you might be able to do it.

Whether or not you have the range in your ankles. Everyone s body is different. During my yoga teacher training with yandara yoga institute we watched a video by paul grilley who has a phd in anatomy and is a world renowned yoga teacher. There are a few things to think about in the should my heels touch the ground issue.

Your heels are supposed to touch the floor. Say you ve been working hard on your downward facing dog and still can t get your heels to the floor. Yes that is completely normal. 1 if your heels aren t touching the ground in downdog and it bothers you or prevents you from fully lengthening the hamstrings and calves you can compensate by bringing the floor up to you.

My personal opinion would be stretch a bit but don t overkill yourself. Some of us have tight calf muscle and back lines and this will mean we can t get our heels down. Having your heels touch the floor require you you keep working on your hamstrings yes but more importantly whenever you are doing a seated forward fold or some variation point your toes toward your face. Some people s heels might touch the floor in down dog and some people s might not.

Since the pose primarily focuses on lengthening the legs and spine if the heels are flat on the ground the pose can no longer grow. Yes tight hamstrings and calves can make heel to floor contact more challenging as a person with extremely tight calves i know this.