Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it. Tori Ames Day 44: Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (Standing Hand to Big Toe) So your standing leg gets a double whammy here since you transition from Natarajasana (Dancers) right into Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. Hello gluteus medius and minimus!!! If your leg hyperextends, you will have to be extremely mindful in the standing leg. You will feel like you are bending your leg, because you have been telling your brain that hyperextension is straight your entire life, but in reality you are bring it it away from the dangerous hyperextension zone and into happy alignment straight. If you are super tight in your hamstrings, dont worry about having straight legs. Bent knees will be fine for a while until your hamstrings start to lengthen, gain flexibility, and improved their eccentric strength. The toes of the extended leg will want to curl and flex around your fingers. This will continue to shorten the fascia of the sole of your foot, the plantar fascia. Instead work really hard to extend and spread your toes as much as you can, stretching the plantar fascia. Do this bring driving the ball of your big toe into hands. The stronger you get eccentrically the easier this will become for you. Main stretches in the pose are the hamstrings and calf muscles of the lifted leg as well as the thoracolumbar fascia as well as the lumbodors. Gluteus Medius and Minimus Both the gluteus medius and minimus run from the outise portion of the ilium (the hip bone) and inserting into the lateral superior portion of the femur (leg) bone. While you stand, walk, run and do yoga, the gluteus medius and minimus are hard at working keeping your femur (hip bone) insidethe acetabulum (the hip socket). Hamstrings The hamstrings are a set of three muscles. The biceps femoris with two heads (short and long), the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus. All three of the hamstrings, except for the short head of the biceps femoris, commence at the ischial tuberosity (sit bone). The biceps femoris is the lateral hamstring and both of its heads (long and short) insert into the head of the fibula (the smaller lower leg bone). The semitendinosus is the superficial and medial hamstring inserting into the superior shaft of the tibia. The semimembranosus is medial and deep to the semitendinosus. The semimembranosus inserts into the medial condyle of the tibia (superior, medial portion). All three hamstrings perform knee flexion. Calf Muscles The gastrocnemius is the most superficial of the calf muscles. It forms and upside-down heart and is visible in strong lower legs. It commences at the posterior, lower thigh bone (femoral condyles) and stretches all the way down the lower leg blending into the achilles tendon. The soleus is the deepest of the calf muscles and lays directly underneath the gastrocnemius. It does not stretch behind the knee like the gastrocnemius, so it only performs plantar flexion while the gastrocnemius performs both plantar flexion and knee flexion. The soleus commences at the superior, posterior portion of the tibia (shin bone), stretches down the back side of the lower leg and inserts into the achilles tendon, just like the gastrocnemius. Thoracolumbar and Lumbodorsal Fascia The thoracolumbar and lumbodorsal fascia are thick tendinous tissues that makes up the lower back. The thoracolumbar fascia sits over and superficially to the lumbodorsal fascia, while the lumbodorsal fascia sits underneath and deep to the thoracolumbar fascia. The thoracolumbar fascia is the origin point for your latissimus dorsi, and the lumbodorsal fascia is the origin point for the logissimus (the longest of the erector spinae group muscles) as well as the iliocostalis (the erector spinae muscle that runs over the costals/ribs).
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:32:03 +0000
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