This is a hot topic and tricky one to address, AND there is no one single correct answer which will be suitable for everyone! So how do we respond to this question?…..Well it depends on a couple of considerations including the different situations on the yoga mat and what you are doing & wishing to achieve!

You’ll get to build your understanding of how you intentionally position your body and the decisions you make on the mat in our upcoming YOGA BOOSTER MASTER CLASS SERIES starting Wednesday 21st July. Check out what we’ll be covering to help you accelerate your practice this Summer: Yoga Booster – Master Class Series

So let’s take ‘to tuck or not to tuck’ with two different poses – Forearm Plank & Low Lunge – and how your experience changes depending on the situation.

The usual alignment of the pelvis in Forearm Plank is a neutral position (i.e not tucking the tail) which tends to require an even cohesive activation of muscles on the front, back and sides of our core to stabilise the spine and pelvis. But if we slightly tilt the pelvis backwards (therefore ‘tucking the tail’) we get a greater activation of the muscles on the front of our core (specifically the abdominals – Transverse and Rectus Abdominis).

In Low Lunge – when we tuck the tail it produces increased tone in the front of core, and gives the back leg greater length into the muscles that cross the front of that hip & thigh (Hips Flexors & Quads) and brings more activation into the back of the hip (Gluteus Maximum & Minimus).

Also a consideration of ‘to tuck and not to tuck’ and the degree to which you would do this depends on the amount of mobility you currently have in your lower back & how pronounced or not the curve of that part of the spine is! Join us for YOGA BOOSTER where we’ll dive into more of this!

And to immerse yourself into alignment & anatomy for teaching Yoga or growing your understanding of the complete practice exponentially as a student – come with us on a journey of transformation and self development from this October in the FOUNDATIONAL 200 HOURS YOGA UNWRAPPED© TEACHER TRAINING COURSE. Read about this comprehensive programme and the SPECIAL EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT AND LIMITED TIME BONUSES available now! Yoga Unwrapped© Foundation Yoga Teacher Training: 200 Hours