Quick Yoga Tip: Where to Stand on Your Mat in Sun Salutations?
When deciding where to stand on your mat for sequences like Sun Salutations A & B (Surya Namaskara), consider two things:
1) Where your feet can land when you step, jog, or hop your feet forward and back from your Half Forward Fold.
2) How far forward your hands need to be from your feet to transfer weight into your hands.
If you are one of the rare folks who can put their hands beside their feet and transfer your weight into the hands, then sure, put your feet at the top of the mat.
If, however, you are like most folks and your hands don’t meet the ground, or you can’t transfer weight into your hands to make those transitions back into Plank or forward from Down Dog – add some space to your base.
Put your feet where your hands need you. Place your feet back from the top of the mat where you can get your hands onto the ground (or stable bricks) to bear enough weight in your hands to make those transitions forward and back on the mat.
Try it now if you like: stand at the top of the mat and ease into a forward fold. Walk your feet back until you can get some weight into your hands on the ground or on stable bricks. Now that’s where your feet can start in your Sun Salutations.
You might find as you warm up through a few rounds of Surya Namaskara that you can move your feet closer to the top of the mat, but let’s remember that there’s no gold medals for hanging ten off the end of the mat. Our foot position is dictated by our unique body’s needs on the day, and the priority of transferring weight into your hands so you can step, jog, hop, or float your feet forward and back through the sequence.
Hope that helps!
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