FS stretch series questions

I find it almost impossible to keep my heels together for seizas. In the elevated seiza, my bodyweight rolls my feet outwards. Like, my feet can't seem to stay aligned vertically once I sit back on them. Should I hold them together with my hands or something?

For the curled seiza, keeping my heels together puts all of my weight (literally 100%) on my big toes. My 3rd-5th toes don't even touch the ground, but looking at the pictures and video, the participants have all their toes curved on the floor.

One other minor thing: for the kneeling achilles stretch, my ankle rolls inward. I have a fairly low arch to begin with and it doesn't cause any discomfort, but does the medial flex of my ankle take away from the stretch on the achilles? Should I try to "hold" my ankle in more of a neutral position?

You could buy a yoga strap. I have the same problem and bought one a few months ago to help with this. It's a worthwhile investment. I would also say that so long as you can do it pain-free, I would try to maintain a neutral position and stretch on the ankle. My knee often rolls in on this one but over time it's gotten better and as it has, the Achilles has gotten more of a stretch as a result.

Thanks for the feedback. I have a stretch strap; I'm unclear on how you're suggesting I use it.

I think he means to wrap around your ankles and keep your heels pressed together. I use a belt to do that.

OK thanks, I'll try that.

Sorry, a yoga strap and a stretch strap are unique. A yoga strap works like a belt, it has a fastener on one end which enables you to tighten or loosen it accordingly. I would wrap it around your ankles or basically around your heel, to keep them together. It's worked well for me. Sadly I don't use it for much else, but in this case, it is quite optimal. 

This is the one I bought to keep my heels together. Very helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007WK6Q4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

I have the same issue with the elevated seiza: it's either heels together and not sitting completely down or heels apart and sitting completely down. I've done the former most of the time, but I will give the yoga strap method a try now.

I wonder if this is an anatomical difference or a matter of flexibility (and if so, which flexibility issue exactly prevents us from keeping the heels together)?

Strap is one method, another is to roll up a towel and put it under the ankles.

The roll needs to be big enough to allow you to keep the ankles in place with some effort, and small enough that it doesn't remove all of the stretch.

Over time, you'll make the roll smaller and smaller.

Hi @Cole Dano,

I'm like the original poster: my ankles drift apart in the elevated seiza. In that one, we already have a mat/tower underneath our ankles. The strap might be the only option there?

Samin

You can also use the strap and roll in tandem.