From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies Unless there are knee problems, most fat people are comfortable with the first phase of this asana. The second phase is harder for everyone, of course. The fat person performing this asana must be sure of his/her leg strength and knee health, since s/he must carry more weight. The most troublesome … Read More
Padahastasana – The Jackknife Pose (also Hand-to-Foot Pose, Standing Forward Bend)
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies A fat student will not be able to bend forward as far as a comparatively flexible thinner person, again due to the size of the belly. Bending the knees aggravates this problem, so be on the lookout for locked knees in your fat students. Another related problem is difficulty breathing. Taking … Read More
Vrikasana – The Tree Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies Except for the advanced half-lotus version of this asana, wherein thigh fat would interfere with placement of the raised leg, this asana is usually no more problematic for fat people than for thin, unless the fat person is very out of shape. Sometimes, though, a fat person has less of a … Read More
Virabhadrasana – The Warrior Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies Fat people generally make excellent warriors! This asana requires strength, but extra fat doesn’t get in the way of anything here. The extra weight does make an already challenging pose a bit more challenging, but that will be a problem only if the fat student has no prior physical conditioning. Watch … Read More
Dhanurasana – The Bow Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies The difficulty for fat people with this asana is the tendency for the legs to splay open when bringing the feet to the buttocks — another case of “the fat has to go somewhere.” Holding a strap around the feet, and fastening another one around the lower thighs (don’t suggest … Read More
Standing Backward Bend
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies I don’t think this asana has any problems exclusive to fat people — except that they have to hold up even more weight in the arms, so it’s hard to hold the pose for very long.
Sasamgasana – The Hare Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies This asana usually makes fat people laugh and make jokes about “Maybe in my next lifetime…” There is simply too much tummy and thigh and possibly chest on most fat people to roll into a ball. I don’t teach this asana per se, although I do sometimes start with the “frog” … Read More
Surya Namaskar Sun Salutation
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies Except for position 3, Padahastasana, there are no positions in this sequence that are much harder for the fat beginner than for the thinner one, in and of themselves. However, the transition between postures may be very difficult for fat people. For example, lowering the hands to the ground between Banarasana and … Read More
Jathara Parivartanasana – The Supine Twist
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies As with pregnant women, fat people need to accommodate the belly via less bend in the leg that crosses over. The difficult bend is at the hip joint, not so much in the knee joint. Holding the knee of the crossover leg may not be possible. I personally practice this twist … Read More
Chandrasana – The Crescent Moon Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies The only real problem here for some fat people is the need to keep the legs together. I don’t think the student risks injury if s/he has a slightly wider stance, but it does tend to decrease the feeling of the body being in a smooth, compact crescent-moon arc — … Read More