Fold
When I first started teaching, a regular student at the studio came up to me and told me that standing forward folds were dangerous, and I should not teach them. At the time, I was so new that I just thanked her for her input and did not ask in depth questions as to why. Then I second guessed everything that I was taught, and while I didn’t remove forward folds from my sequences, I was uneasy when I taught them. Little did I know, this misguided comment was one of the best gifts I received.
Prior to becoming a yoga instructor, my standing forward fold was cranky. My first experience with props was when my home studio’s owner (and now my retreat leader partner), placed blocks in front of me when I went into a standing forward fold, asking me to set my hands on the blocks to bring the floor up to me. My initial thought was “I am not good enough.” But then, with that one adjustment, I started to find more ease in my hamstrings and space in my lower back.
Contrary to popular belief, a standing forward fold is not about touching your hands to the floor while maintaining straight legs and having your chest tight to your thighs. I see many students when I am teaching (and I was one of them!) striving to bring their head to their thighs (but that goal causes them to deeply round their spine, pulling the chest away from their thighs), with locked straight legs, pushing so hard that I wince when I watch.
There are a few factors at play here. In some cases it is just how you are built. Long legs, short arms, can contribute to not finding the floor easily.
Tight hamstrings are usually the culprit of not getting the hands on the floor and trying to stretch them over and over is not going to help you progress further in your fold. What you say? How can that be?
Tight hamstrings are a common complaint with everyone from office workers, athletes to yoga practitioners. Unfortunately, stretching is not always the most effective or long-lasting solution.
Some of the biggest causes of tight hamstrings are:
Too much sitting because your knees are bent and therefore your hamstrings are in a prolonged shortened position.
Compensation because other muscles are weak and not doing their job. For example, weak glutes or hip flexors can actually cause your hamstrings to work harder and tighten.
Overuse or underuse can also cause the hamstrings to tighten.
Strengthening, instead of stretching, your hips, glutes and hamstrings will actually help you find more flexibility in your hamstrings. After a year of focused physical therapy work, I had a distinct moment of going into a standing forward fold effortlessly and it all clicked. Strength work combined with mindful muscle engagement and adjustments to how I enter my standing forward fold made all the difference.
The PT work I did was specific to my issues going on in my body, and I am not here to give you the details to that approach. You will need the care and guidance of a Physical Therapist. If you don’t have one, go here for my recommendation.
How to approach a standing forward fold in a yoga class?
Most poses are forward folds such as pyramid, downward facing dog, wide leg forward fold.
Three concepts to keep in mind as we explore this pose:
It is important to engage the deep core to decompress the lumbar spine (low back) to maintain lumbar lordosis (natural curve of the low back) as much as possible during the entire pose from entry to exit
Pada Bandha is essential. Your feet should remain actively rooted to the ground. Why? This keeps your back body muscles active and helps to maintain the natural curves of the spine as much as possible (you will lose some of the neutral spinal curves regardless during a fold, but engaging the feet helps keep you active in the pose)
Gravity can be your best friend or worst enemy. Know the difference.
Basic guidelines and engagement for a healthier standing forward fold (for the sake of this instruction, I am referring specifically to Uttanasana):
Feet hip distance apart
Neutral pelvis. Meaning you are not tucking your pelvis or tilting your pelvis to create an exaggerated sway back
Weight shifts to the forefoot. Don’t grip your toes. Keep them soft.
Knees are soft. If you are feeling tension in the hamstrings, take a deeper knee bend. (Next time you are in class with me, check out what I do here. I deeply bend my knees!)
Press your feet down into the ground. That engagement will cause an upward momentum in the hips and back of the thighs
Slight engagement of the glutes. Your hamstrings and glutes are acting like pillars. Sit bones squeeze together slightly.
Gather your belly deeply to the spine. This is critical for low back health.
Drape your torso towards your thighs. Want your torso to touch your thighs? BEND YOUR KNEES
Crown of head releases towards the ground creating space and length in the back of the neck
Use blocks to explore these guidelines. (I understand that during an active Vinyasa Flow style of class, especially during a Sun Salutation, blocks can be cumbersome. Use blocks at home to explore or use them during a slower paced class such as Hatha or my Yoga for a Healthy Spine class to get the hang of this healthier approach so you can apply the idea from muscle memory without blocks during Vinyasa)
Intentional execution of your standing forward fold will create happier hamstrings, ease in your low back; and more importantly, a healthier and sustainable practice.