Low Lunge

For those who have trouble bringing one foot forward between the hands from dog, here are a couple of things to try. When performed together they should make a significant difference to anyone.

1. Assuming that you are stepping the right foot forward, you need to drop the LEFT hip as much as possible by bending the left knee as you step forward. This will of course lower the right hip a bit too giving you more space to bring the right leg through before the right thigh (for most of us!!) is fouled by your trunk, stopping the right foot short of its objective.

2. Hopefully that gets you a bit further, but most will need to create a bit more space to get the foot all the way forward. To do this, lift the right palm off the floor as you step forward coming onto the fingertips of the right hand (keeping the fingertips on the floor means that the hand goes back down in the right place again once the foot has come through), as you step through. This will lift the right shoulder and hence the trunk a little higher giving more space to get the right thigh through.

3. Now you need to practise so that you synchronise the three things precisely - the step through, the knee bend and the palm lift.

Some of us may not be destined to get the foot all the way through in a single step in this lifetime, but many of my students have found this technique most helpful.

Like Alice, bringing my foot forward into lunge from down dog is not a smooth motion. Nor is it abdominal strength in my case. Another possible "sticking point" might tight front hip flexors and/or tight hamstrings. From down dog, if I move very slowly and control all motion, I get "stuck" when my hip can't lift high enough to bring (not momentum) my foot through easily. Going slowly I can "cheat" by bringing my hip out to the side, and placing my foot down.

alice, who is having trouble with stepping through from Downward Dog -> in order to step from Down Dog to lunge, the pelvis needs to be kept high. Core strength helps with this. Engage the front and side abs, lift the pelvis higher, then step the leg through. One way to get better at the strength of the core is to practice holding plank (try on forearms, like Dolphin), hold for 1 minute or more, then this allows the core to carry the hips while the leg swings forward. Usually that's what it is! It may be different in your case.