emma_forever_yoga

16/12/2025

15/12/2025

Why you rock back in Boat Pose (Navasana)

If Boat Pose feels unstable or you rock backwards when you straighten your legs, this usually isn’t just a core strength issue.

In Navasana, we’re aiming for roughly a 90-degree hip angle.
Tight hamstrings can pull the pelvis into a posterior pelvic tilt, which puts the hip flexors at a mechanical disadvantage.

That imbalance creates pelvic instability — so the body compensates by rocking back.

The solution isn’t forcing the pose.
It’s strengthening the hip flexors and improving active hamstring flexibility first.

Save this if you’re working on Boat Pose, core strength, or yoga stability 🤍
Comment below if Navasana feels strong or frustrating for you.

08/12/2025

Why is Triangle Pose basically a standing side plank?
I read six peer-reviewed research papers on Trikonasana — and what they showed was genuinely fascinating.

Triangle isn’t just a hamstring stretch.
Biomechanically, your external oblique fires isometrically to prevent your torso from collapsing (the same stabilising pattern we see in side plank).
Your glute med works hard to stabilise the pelvis and support the knee, and your hamstrings maintain active tension as the pelvis rotates.

Yoga isn’t passive stretching — it uses isometric strength, which is a recognised form of strength training in exercise science.
Triangle trains side-body stability, hip control, and end-range strength all at once.

Key takeaways:
• Triangle = side-body isometrics + hip stability
• External obliques fire like a side plank
• Glute med prevents knee collapse
• Yoga = flexibility + isometric strength
• End-range control = strength, not passive range

Peer-Reviewed Sources (DOIs):
Kumar et al., 2018 — 10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_1_18
Baum et al., 2022 — 10.1016/j.jbmt.2022.02.008
Whissell et al., 2021 — 10.1155/2021/7464719
Ni et al., 2014 — 10.1016/j.ctim.2014.01.007
Longpré et al., 2015 — 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2015.06.007
Salem et al., 2013 — 10.1155/2013/165763

Save this for your next practice 💛
And if you love biomechanics & yoga strength breakdowns, follow for more.

01/12/2025

Why is Downward Facing Dog so good for your lower back… and what does fascia have to do with it?

I read six peer-reviewed research papers on fascia and Down Dog — but four of them became the primary foundation for this breakdown.
Here’s what’s actually happening in your back when you do this pose:

🕸️ Fascia 101:
Fascia is your full-body connective tissue network — like a 3D internal wetsuit.
It wraps around everything: muscles, bones, nerves, organs.

It’s made of collagen fibres, cells, and a gel-like ground substance containing hyaluronic acid, which attracts water and helps different fascial layers glide over each other.

When fascia glides well → movement feels smooth.
When it doesn’t → it feels stiff, sticky, dense (scientists call this densification).

🧘‍♀️ So what’s happening in Downward Facing Dog?
Your arms pull the fascia upward via the lats.
Your hips pull it backward via the hamstrings + glutes.
This creates opposing tension through the thoracolumbar fascia — the huge sheet of connective tissue across your lower back.

Here’s the key:

✨ Fascia doesn’t really “stretch.” It’s too stiff for that.
What does happen is a mechanical signal inside the tissue that encourages the hyaluronic acid between the layers to absorb more fluid.
More fluidity = better glide = easier movement.

This is why Down Dog can feel like traction and relief through your entire back body — not just a hamstring stretch.

⸻

THE MAIN STUDIES I USED

(I read 6 total — these 4 formed the core of the explanation)

• Kumka & Bonar (2012) – Thoracolumbar fascia: anatomy, structure, function
• Wilke et al. (2017) – Fascia as a sensory and force-transmitting structure
• Stecco et al. (2011) – Hyaluronic acid and fascial gliding
• Krause et al. (2016) – Fascial densification and movement quality

⸻

If this helped you understand your Down Dog in a new way, save it, share it, or send it to a yogi friend 🧡
And let me know what pose you want me to break down next.

24/11/2025

If your heels lift when you squat… or your ankles feel tight, stiff, or “blocked”… or you’ve been stretching your calves for years and still can’t get deeper — this is for you.

For a deep squat, your ankle dorsiflexion needs to work properly.
And dorsiflexion isn’t just about flexible calves — it’s about the talocrural joint glide.

When the tissues behind the ankle (gastrocnemius, soleus, FDL, FHL) get tight, the talus stops gliding backwards… and the ankle hits a wall.

That’s why knee-over-toe dorsiflexion mobilisation works so well:
it restores the joint glide, not just the muscle stretch.

Try this drill:
• Rock forward into dorsiflexion × 10
• Hold the last rep for 30 seconds
• Add weight for more joint compression
• Keep the heel down the entire time

Save this for your next squat warm-up.
Your ankles will feel the difference. 💚

11/11/2025

It’s not just tight calves — it’s your ankle mobility and the balance between your gastrocnemius, soleus, and tibialis anterior.

Try this wall calf stretch + tibialis raises combo to open your ankles and ground your squat. 💪
Save this for your next lower-body day and let me know if you feel the difference 👇

📺 Want the full routine?
There’s a long-form version with a full calf stretch and strengthening sequence on my grid — and a follow-along version on YouTube (link in bio) so you can practice it at home.

10/11/2025

Ever wonder why your flexibility or strength plateaus — even when you’re training and eating well?

It’s not always your muscles.
It’s your recovery. 💤

When you don’t sleep enough, your body stays in survival mode — cortisol and adrenaline stay high, and your muscles can’t use glucose efficiently.
Sleep literally fuels your recovery.

That’s why I’ve been tracking my sleep with the Ring 🩶 — it measures recovery, sleep stages, HRV, and even temperature changes.

💡 Use my link in bio for 10% off if you want to start tracking your own recovery.

03/11/2025

Tight calves or heels lifting when you squat? 🦶
This quick mobility sequence will help you unlock your ankle dorsiflexion so you can finally drop deep into your squat with control and stability.

We’ll target your:
🔥 Gastrocnemius & Soleus — with the wall calf stretch
💪 Tibialis Anterior — with toe raises to strengthen the front of the shin
🦵 Ankle joint mobility — with a loaded knee-over-toe drill (you can use a kettlebell if you’d like!)

✨ These exercises work together to balance flexibility and strength — the key to smooth, grounded movement.

🎥 You can follow along with the full Calf & Ankle Mobility Routine now live on YouTube — Fix Your Ankles → Deepen Your Squat — it includes all the tibialis anterior toe raises and knee-over-toe drills in real time.
👉 Link in bio to watch.

💍 I’m also wearing my , which I use daily to track recovery, sleep, and performance.
You can check it out (and use my discount link in bio) if you want to start tracking your own mobility and recovery too.

⬇️ Comment “HEELS DOWN” if you’re adding this to your training this week, and save this post for your next lower-body day!

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👣 |

27/10/2025

Why your jump through feels stuck 👇
If your shoulders collapse or you can’t float your hips through, it’s often not your core — it’s your serratus anterior.
This muscle wraps around the ribs and helps you protract (push the floor away) and stay lifted through your transition.

Try the Scapular Wall Slider (3×12) to feel that shoulder stability kick in.
When this muscle fires, everything feels lighter. ✨

💡 The second drill — Push-Up Pulses — is in my new YouTube video.
Search Emma Forever Yoga on YouTube to follow along.