Anatomy of the squat
by Debbie Daly | Jan. 14, 2010
If your heels don’t touch the floor when you squat, then you probably know all about the typical solutions that most yoga teachers are limited to, as they order you to roll a blanket and stick it under your heels. For experienced yogis, this begins to feel like an unjust punishment for something that shows no hope of improving.
Malasana, also known as Garland Pose or Yoga Squat, is the bane of many people’s yoga class experience. Who wants to stop and roll up a blanket every time they move in and out of Malasana, especially during a flow class? Many ankle-restricted yogis have no problem balancing on the balls of the feet with the heels hovering, and in this position they experience the main benefits of the posture – elongation of the spine, stretching of the sacroiliac region, and stretching of the knees, hips and Achilles tendons.
I take issue with this because of an article in this month’s Yoga Journal entitled "Basics: Garland Pose" by Marla Apt. The author incorrectly addresses this complicated issue by saying “If you are tight in your hips, groins, calves, and Achilles tendons, your heels may not reach the floor.” For most of us with heels that don't reach the floor, it has nothing to do with tightness in the muscles or tendons, and it has everything to do with the structure of the bones in our ankles. Take this quote from Leslie Kaminoff's investigation of Squat pose in his beautifully illustrated book, Yoga Anatomy::
The inability to dorsiflex the ankle deely enough to keep the heels on the floor can be due to shortness in the Achilles tendon; however, restriction can also be in the front of the ankle. A quick fix is available by using support under the heels, but it's important not to become too reliant on it, because it will prevent activation of the intrinsic muscles of the feet, which stabilizes the arches, allows deeper flexion in the ankle, and aligns the bones of the foot and knee joint.
In squat, here’s what happens in most ankles with limited range of motion: Fist, the shin bone (the tibia) collides with the topmost foot bone (the talus) when the ankle is bent. This happens at a different angle for different students. If the angle at which this collision happens is not very generous, the knees will not be able to bend very much unless the heels are allowed to lift off the ground. If the heels are allowed to lift, the knees will bend farther and the squat will be possible. My estimation from observing students in classes is that about half of us have ankle limitations that compromise our squats. The student will not feel a stretch in the Achilles tendon, but will feel certain that their ankles have gone as far as they’re willing to go. The term for this bone-on-bone limitation is called compression. Compression occurs in many joints - it’s the reason our knees only bend front-to-back and not side-to-side.
I found the holy grail on this issue when Paul Grilley came to Tucson for a yoga anatomy workshop. Paul has become well-known for bringing light to the variations in human anatomy and how they affect our yoga practice. Years of frustration melted away as I listened to Paul describe what he calls the Principle of Counterbalance, which states that the real problem is one of bone compression and of balance.
Basically, what’s going on in a “correct” Malasana is this: the knees bend forward, and the hips shift backward. These two actions balance one another, so that you don’t fall forward or backward. However, if the ankles won’t bend much because of compression in the front of the ankle joints, and if the heels aren’t allowed to lift off the ground to allow a deeper knee-bend, then the hips will not be able to slide farther back in space without the body falling backward. (The mechanics of this are explained in more detail on Paul’s website: [link])
I’ve done yoga with limited ankles for years. In my Pre-Grilley years, the squat was on my list of Most Hated Poses. But these days, I absolutely love to squat, and it’s moved all the way up to my Favorite Poses list. If you’re ready to love Malasana despite your limited ankles, here are some suggestions:
Let the ankles hover
This is the alternative that I use most often. When I do Malasana, it’s usually part of a flow sequence, so I rarely feel like to disrupting the flow by moving to the wall or folding a blanket. As long as you’re comfortable balancing on the balls of your feet, simply press down through the heels as much as they’ll go.
Lean your butt against the wall
You can experience a different feeling in the pose by doing it with your hips back against the wall, enabling the heels to reach the ground. A sticky mat and bare feet will be required to prevent the feet from sliding forward.
Widen the knees & feet (Goddess variation)
Another great alternative, which also helps the heels come down, is to take a wider stance and allow the toes to turn out to the side (see picture). The resulting posture is reminiscent of the Goddess, and it’s a wonderful variation that’s often used by pregnant women.
Roll a mat under the heels
I’ve learned to enjoy this variation as long as I'm not in the middle of a moving flow. I definitely prefer to use a rolled mat instead of a rolled blanket. A mat is firmer and allows the heels to sink down in a way that a blanket doesn't allow.
Squat outdoors on an incline
This is my absolute favorite variation. Find just the right little hillside, toes pointing down, and bring your booty down toward the earth. Heavenly!
Other postures that are affected
Utkatasana - see the pictures
Downward Dog - "With enough practice, your heels will touch the ground," is a misinformed statement.
Revolving triangle and revolving side-angle - Those with these ankle restrictions are often unable to experience much of a twist without lifting the back heel.
My Achilles tendons pretty much don’t stretch at all, because my ankles don’t like to bend farther than 90 degress. I’ve been doing yoga for 12 years with amazing transformations in the flexibility of my hamstrings, shoulders, spine, and hips, but no difference at all in the range of motion of my ankles.
Beating yourself up about your inability to do a certain posture is not what yoga is supposed to be about. The art of Yoga is much more about getting to know your own bodies better, appreciating its abilities and honoring its limitations. Most experienced yogis reach a point when they’ve been doing yoga for a few years, and the same problem exists in a particular posture with no improvement. At this point, you are often dealing with an anatomical situation that is beyond your teachers’ experience. It happens to the best of us – even most yoga teachers.
As someone with many such bodily quirks, after a few years I learned that my yoga teachers often didn’t know nearly as much I did about my own body. Several of the teachers we’ve brought to Tucson Yoga have either studied with Paul Grilley or are otherwise sensitive to these kinds of differences in anatomy. We encourage you to discuss these differences with your teacher. If approached in a friendly way, your teacher may be open to learning something new about how to work with other students who have your limitations.
If you want to learn more, I highly recommend the DVD Anatomy for Yoga with Paul Grilley. It’s also available in the Tucson Yoga library and at Pranamaya.
For more information on the Principle of Counterbalance, read the following article:
Assessing Range of Motion in Squatting Poses by Paul Grilley
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Oh my god, someone tell that young lady to put her heels down!!! Doesn't she know she can hurt herself with such bad alignment??!!
Here's my preferred version of malasana. I have a very typical case of skeletal ankle restriction - the persistent 90-degree angle of the ankles, shown, means my heels must lift off the ground for the body to balance in this squat. Incidentally, this is one of my favorite poses - it feels great in my spine and hips, and guess what else? It's not hurting me. I've been doing yoga for 15 years, shouldn't I know?
The Goddess Variation
Yep, the only way those heels will stay on the ground is to go lateral with the feet. The 90 degree angle persists. Notice how this outward foot angle also brings my knees out to the side rather than forward, enabling my hips to flex without throwing off my balance - consistent with the Principle of Counterbalance. This gives me a very different stretch, but still feels really good.
In Utkatasana, this is as far as I can squat without lifting my heels off the ground. Looks like I'm exaggerating, eh? The dumb expression on my face reveals how pointless this pose feels to me. And where do I feel it? Is there a stretch in my hamstrings? Hips? Knees? Am I just stupid? Perhaps, but I know one thing - I feel this pose entirely in the front of my ankles, which stay at 90 degrees because of bone-on-bone compression. This prevents my knees from going any farther forward, which in turn makes it impossible to bend at the hips more without the weight of my torso causing me to fall forward (the Principle of Counterbalance).
Once my heels are lifted, I can go much farther. My knees are now able to travel forward, creating the appropriate counter-balance for the weight of the torso which must be carried by the pelvis. Notice that the 90 degree angle of the ankles goes completely unchanged.
And the higher the heels lift, the farther the knees bend, the lower the butt goes...
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