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So, in this version of Paschimottanasana, which leans means intense western stretch,
the word western referring to the back of the body. In this version I like to use a
block. It's just such a great feeling. If you're fairly comfortable with your hands
on your feet, and the forward bend, say it feels really important to have a teacher check
you in this pose and make sure you are safe. But if you kind of felt like you've gone where
you can go with the pose, and you'd like to find some more length within it, I like to
put the block; for me, it's really important to have this bottom edge of the block on the
floor, and not be tippy, tilty, because that's giving some feedback to my entire foot. So,
this brings me all the way back to where we started in standing forward bend with standing
poses, where I'm rooting my feet now into the block, and I'm binding my hands around
the block, and I'm reaching out, and I'm going to wrap my toes around, so get all that wonderful
prana breath energy all the way down to the toes and the arches of the feet; really strong
arches. And you'd be surprised how that pressing into the block activates some length all the
way up, and then I rock, rock, rock, not just to widen my sitting bones, which I need to
do, but also to massage the muscles and the tendons that attach up there at the hamstrings
and the hamstring tendons. And I'm not in a hurry to put my head down. I'm really more
interested in achieving some length. I'm not harshly lifting. I'm not harshly pulling.
But I'm allowing my hands binding around the block to give extra space to the sides of
the body, and I can really evaluate what I've been doing with my spine for the last couple
of hours in my practice, and then, finally surrendering down a little bit more.