In fact, wheel yoga can not be regarded as deep backward bending, but only moderate backward bending.
Deep back bending, as shown in the figure below.
There are many reasons why the wheel can’t get up.
After all, the wheel is the comprehensive result of leg strength, hip, pelvis, spine flexibility, back strength, chest, shoulder flexibility and arm strength.
Everyone can’t get up in the wheel, he may have his own reasons, and there is no way to generalize.
Let’s split this pose.
1.
Foundation.
There are two foundations of wheeled: hands and feet.
Let’s talk about feet first.
When we talk about the foundation of wheel, I believe everyone knows that it is hands and feet.
But knowing doesn’t necessarily mean doing it.
Once many people lift their bodies, the foundation of their feet is lost.
Although the feet still fell on the ground, they did not have the force to take root downward.
You can recall, especially for beginners, whether you paid attention to stepping down your feet when doing wheel pose, or focused all your attention on your hands and chest, ignoring the foundation of your feet.
The result is that the whole weight of the body moves to the upper half, to the shoulders and arms.
The foundation is unstable and the center of gravity moves forward.
After the center of gravity moves forward, it will become more difficult for you to straighten your arms and lift your chest upward.
In the figure below, you can observe this picture.
Although the wheel up, but the feet are empty, there is no feeling of downward force.
Let’s talk about hands.
Many people will wonder that my arm strength is not poor.
For example, I can do flat support for three minutes, and even stand on my elbow.
In other words, when my hands are the foundation, I can support the whole body.
Why is the strength of my arms insufficient when my hands and feet are the foundation at the same time? The first reason is that as I said earlier, the feet did not play a fundamental role and put all the weight on the upper body.
The second reason is that many people’s arms are powerful but can’t work hard and don’t realize it.
When I first did the wheel pose, I always held my back to help me up.
My arms felt like floating in the water, and there was no way to fall down.
If the arm has no strength, you need to practice arm strength.
If the arm has strength but can’t be used, you can find someone to assist and hold the helper’s ankle.
Don’t underestimate this little change.
When you grasp something in your hand, it is easier to start awareness.
Frankly speaking, when you have something on your hand, you know where to use your strength.
2.
Hip, pelvis.
In wheel pose, push the pelvis upward and move the center of gravity and center of the body to the bone plate.
Just like in downward dog pose, the strength of both legs and back goes to the hips and pushes the hips to the highest position.
There are two purposes to do this.
One is to protect the lumbar spine and avoid the bending point of the lumbar spine.
The other is to stabilize the whole posture to avoid the forward movement of the center of gravity.
Therefore, many people only pay attention to pushing the chest upward while doing wheel pose, ignoring pushing the hips upward.
You can observe the beautiful women in green.
Not only the feet are floating, but the whole lower body is floating, resulting in more strength on the lumbar spine.
3.
Spinal extension you must remember that spinal extension is beneficial in almost any pose.
This is particularly important in back bends.
The extension of the spine not only creates space for the vertebral body, but also creates space for the opening of the front chest and the stretching of the ribs.
4.
Chest and shoulder joints.
I often say that if you can’t clasp your hands behind your body in cow face pose, don’t rush to try wheel pose.
Because it means that your shoulder joint is stiff and not flexible enough.
You should start with the basic asana, wait until your shoulder joint is flexible enough, and try wheel asana again.
Make an inappropriate analogy: just like you don’t run until you learn to walk.
One more thing, don’t expand your arms upward.
You can tie a yoga belt between your big arms to fix it.
Here are some targeted postures.
1.
Warrior style: it helps to enhance leg strength and find the foundation of both feet.
Stand at the front of the mat and take a big step backward with your left foot; Inhale and raise your hands above your head; Exhale, bend the front leg to the vertical ground of the lower leg, keep breathing for 5 ~ 8 groups, and then practice on the other side.
2.
Crescent pose: strengthen the extension ability of the hip joint, which is helpful to better push the pelvis upward in the wheel pose, bend the lunge into the front legs, keep the lower legs vertical to the ground, keep the rear legs knee and instep close to the ground, keep the pelvis upright, and clamp the legs to the midline.
Inhale, extend the spine, lift the hands up over the head, exhale and maintain.
Change sides after breathing in groups 5 ~ 8.
Practice 3.
Upper dog pose: it helps to expand the chest, increase the strength of the arms and back, lie prone on the mat, keep the feet as wide as the pelvis, press the feet back, put both hands on the waist, inhale on both sides, straighten the arms and lift the body.
Exhale hold.
Be careful not to shrug, don’t stretch your elbows, and tighten your abdomen.
Keep breathing for 5 ~ 8 groups and restore prone position.
4.
Ox face pose: flexible shoulder joint and open chest.
You can stand or sit with your spine straight.
Put your hands behind your body, one up and down, ten fingers and two buckles, inhale, extend your spine, expand your chest, exhale, and walk towards the middle line.
Practice on the other side after maintaining 5 ~ 8 breaths.
Therefore, we always emphasize yoga, practice more basic asanas, exercise muscle strength in basic asanas, cultivate awareness, open the body and complete difficult asanas.
Pay attention to everything and share health and beauty…
