5 Comments

• 

  thank you esther for all of the instruction you have been providing! i have been visiting your youtube videos and incorporating them into my daily practice and seeing some nice progress. despite regular practice, i am still having difficulty opening up my hips, hamstrings, adductors and other deep leg muscles. in postures such as sitting forward bend, and other sitting poses, i feel a lot of strain down the backs of my legs and behind my knees and can not get very far. can you recommend any modifications or other postures that may help open them up? I am a massage therapist and regularly have my legs worked on, so i am not sure what else to do to release tension and increase flexibility in these muscles. i am keeping my patience but i would really like to be able to do splits and advanced yoga techniques, and appreciate any advice you can offer to help me target these focus areas.
  with gratitude,
  heath

  Comment by heath Sep 03, 08, 1:50 pm
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  Hi heath,
  These can be very difficult area’s to work with, and it takes a lot of patience.
  Are you familiar with reclining big toe pose? You lie on your back, put a belt / strap over the sole of the right foot and extend your right leg towards the ceiling, bring it as close as possible so you feel a stretch, but don’t push it too hard, your body will only lock up on you. Your other leg you keep straight on the floor foot flexed as if you’re standing (if thats too intense, bend knee and place foot on the floor). Breath into that stretch for about 10-15 breaths, than let your leg go out to the right, you work a different part of your hamstrings, and also over the other leg to the left.
  repeat on the other side.
  do this religiously every day for at least 3 weeks. this way you cannot strain your back working intensely on these muscles. Don’t force it too much though, your body is more likely to let go if it trusts you that you won’t hurt it but encourage it to open. Its a very fine line.
  We all have area’s in our body that take time and patience, this is yours… be were you are is my best advice.

  let me know in three weeks if you feel a change, than I know more too, than I know more too.
  with love,
  Yogatic!
  Esther

  Comment by Esther Sep 03, 08, 7:55 pm
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  Dear Esther, I have watched several of your performances by now. They are very good, but may be you could nevertheless improve them by speaking somewhat slower. Like many young people, your speach is very rapid, sometimes almost like a machinegun: syllables are fired instead of spoken. Anyway: if ever you decide to make a DVD with your demonstrations, then, with or without machinegun, I will surely buy it.

  Yours sincerely,

  Ben Schreurs

  Comment by Ben Schreurs Sep 05, 08, 4:48 pm
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  Hey im 18 years old, i am extremely athletic but i have a slight curvature in my spine which causes me alot mid to upper back pain because my back muscles are always tense and trying to compensate. i have been taking physio for al ong time but it is not helping…hopefully your yoga will!

  cheers,

  Jackson

  Comment by Jackson F Dec 07, 08, 3:57 am
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  Hi Ester, I heard you quite clearly. I did try that some years ago using the top part of a staircase, really. Your method looks much safer, and I’m happy to see it’s a mainstream exercise, and will do it your method, with towel.

  Regards, Patrick

  Comment by Patrick Apr 05, 09, 3:40 am