Most of the therapeutic benefits of asana-driven yoga can also be achieved through other similar sports and body-mind practices. The medical therapeutic use-value is not unique to this yoga form. In other words postural yoga is just a minor part of a broad range of therapeutic and fitness products of gentle gymnastics. But why has the yoga product managed to become so much more popular than other products offering similar use-value?
To explain the popularity of this yoga discourse, we both need to look into wider trends running trough contemporary society and some more specific factors linking those broader trends to the habitus of women’s body-mind culture. During this investigation a different aspect of the yoga product will surface: the symbolic-value of yoga; yoga as a totem communicating images and symbols; yoga as a provider of cultural values, meaning and self-identity. Yoga turning the body into capital.
Shins-In-Thighs-Out aligns the kneecaps to Fish Pose Yoga point straight forward toward the second toes. This is also called tracking the knee, and Fish Pose Yoga you can check it for yourself in a mirror. The second alignment to consider is the forward-back relationship of the lower and upper leg, as observed from the side. Knees that are hyperextended push back too far, reducing stability and distributing pressure unevenly inside the joint.
The Shin Loop and the Thigh Loop see Appendix III comprise an excellent safeguard. Pressing the ball of the foot down while standing advances the top of the shin bone forward, and then flexing the quadriceps fixes the femur without overextending the knee. These actions may seem complex at first, but with practice they can be incorporated into many poses. You will recognize them in the instructions below.
