Modified yoga poses help with stretching

Many yoga classes use a wall as an occasional prop. But in Nancy McCaochan's classes, the wall is the star.

In fact, McCaochan of Royal Oak, Mich., wants to develop yoga at the wall, as she calls it, as a practice all its own.

The author of the book "Yoga at the Wall; Like Stanzas in a Poem," (In the Company of Women, $19.95), McCaochan says the benefit of using the wall is getting a better understanding "of where your body is in space." She calls it a "conversation with your body."

"When I say turn your toes to the front of the room, maybe 75 percent of people get that," she said. "Some people will not get it. They're not turning at all, or they think their foot is straight, but it's not. That's the sort of body awareness the wall helps with."

Line up on a wall, and it's suddenly clear whether your shoulder blades are hunched. Or if your heels are aligned. It's an awareness that can carry over to regular mat work.

"A lot of people don't have the sensitivity of their own movements," McCaochan said, "so it's not until they press against the wall. Then they say, 'Ah, that's what you're talking about.' "

The poses McCaochan, 63, features in wall classes would be familiar to regular yoga practicers.

For instance, the ever-popular downward dog is called wall dog in wall yoga. Instead of bending at the waist and leaning forward with hands and feet on the floor, forming your body into a V, in wall dog you place your arms on the wall parallel to the floor. When you bend down, it becomes more of a stretch for your back and legs.

source: kansas