What a pleasure this stretching and surrending pose is! The biggest temptation in the double-leg pull is to round the back and drop forehead to the knee. Resist! This pose will pull lots of inches out of your crunched lower spine if only you look forward and continue pulling forward, once your legs are straight; and until they are, focus forward too! Worth every inch of willpower it takes to get every inch more from your lower spine stretch.

That's a lovely image for your back; sometimes we say flat like a skateboard ramp as it it always stretching a bit upward like that ramp... Another beautiful image is to imagine your back is a flat diningroom table and you are pulling pulling pulling until you make enough space to put in a whole new leaf.

In the first part of the pose- the separate leg - the back is rounded. When your leg is straight and you are pulling the heel off the mat with your clasped hands, this pose is exactly like Standing Separate Leg Forehead To Knee, without the "standing" - and there, your back is rounded as well.

Alex, one of these days I will walk your "plank" in yoga class during Separate Leg Stretch - it feels amazing!

Great tip, Melina! Once I'm all the way forward, when I'm pulling on my heels, I imagine lifting my tailbone not just straight up to the ceiling, but over my head and towards the curtains or double mirrors - forward a bit - which feels like it adds inches to my lower spine.

Yes, Aimee, keep your plank flat not rounded. You may be working on relaxing in the hips to get down further so whenever you feel stuck, take a deep inhale/adjust and then on your long, deep exhale, relax down further. It is a combination of pulling and relaxing that will eventually place your chest flat on your thighs.

Yes, Marguerite, leading with your chin and chest (your determination and your heart) keeps your back lengthening (the foundation of all your support is your back and it is always expanding). Exhale and let go of the need to "manage it" and feel that strong back (the support that is always right there inside of you). When your leg is straight you can begin to pull with your "net" by bending your elbows and using your arms like levers: dropping elbows to the floor beside your calf muscle and PULL: the leverage pulls you forward and gives even more traction to the lengthening your back. It's all working for you.

Head to knee in Dandayamana Biphaktapada Paschimottansasana? No its spot between the eyebrows to the floor...did you mean Dandayamana Biphaktapada Janushirasana?

Seeing is lovely confirmation, Kim - thus, the mirrors! What you see is what you get....especially in your life.

Rag dolling in Dandayamana Biphaktapada Paschimottnasana, not separate leg stretch, is a Rhonda addition to the script - you wont hear it anywhere but Riverflow - as its the perfect opportunity to "shake" out tightness and wake up the chi energy in your body as well as being a wonderful moment of surrender after the standing series; go for it but only if your teacher instructs (no additions to the teachers words)

Yes there are some script difference of opinion on this pose - in our script, you wedge those hands under the feet to pull and then straighten the legs - but make sure the elbows are engaged to the shins (not behind the calves) as you pull/lock the legs: the idea is to pull the upper body to the lower body as you STRETCH UP from the LOWER BACK.

Forehead to floor is a bit of an exaggeration. Really it is your EYES on the floor (vs looking behind you or between the legs); a little more subtle. However if you dont instruct "forehead to the floor," everyone rounds the upper back and then we end up with humpbacks... and who needs that? As you progress more in the pose and have that straight spine from coccyx to cervical spine, you will shift your eyes to the floor vs your forehead.

PS - I would not tell students to adjust the feet closer until the forehead has grazed the floor:feet close makes this pose more challenging and you want your students to feel a victory before they raise the bar higher

Your body isnt on the floor in Dandayamana Biphaktapada Paschimottanasana, Gabby - what do you mean here?

Interesting, Gabby - never heard of imagining pushing the hips backwards in Paschimottasana; be careful that you're not creating a lower-back swayback. I do notice in your standing savasanas that you have a slight swayback (which is why I always instruct to tuck the hips down and under a bit more...a bit more...a bit more!) but its not too pronounced. After walking the hips back, imagine grinding the sits bones to the mat rather than pushing the hips back and see if that doesnt feel more stable for your forward-bend-pull.

Yes Kim, tucking the chin before you bend will aim your forehead to knee and, as you said, your pose always goes where your eyes lead. As for those hammies, I had my release moment when I did something seemingly unrelated to the hamstrings: I leveled my shouuders (one is always higher) and squared my chest over my thigh. Something released for me in the hammies by virtue of feeling like I just gained more length in my lower back. Try it!