emma_forever_yoga

emma_forever_yoga Movement rooted in clarity, anatomy, and lived experience. I help people build strength, flexibility, and skill by understanding how their body actually works.
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03/08/2026

Why do your knees hurt your arms in Bakasana?

For a lot of people, it isn’t just about “toughening up.” It often comes down to how you’re supporting your body.

Compression strength is one important piece of the puzzle. Your hip flexors help draw your knees toward your chest, your abdominals help maintain spinal flexion (a rounded spine), and muscles like the serratus anterior help stabilise the shoulder blade against the rib cage while you push the floor away. Together, these muscles help create a stronger, more compact position that can reduce how much pressure you feel through your arms.

That doesn’t mean compression is the only thing you need for Bakasana. Wrist tolerance, shoulder strength, balance, hand pressure, confidence leaning forwards, and technique all play important roles too. This reel focuses on one piece of a much bigger system.

If you’d like to practise these exercises, I’ve put together a full Bakasana class over on my YouTube channel where we work through the slider tuck and plenty of other drills together.

I’d love to see you there. 😊

Hi everyone! Just a quick heads-up that I’m currently having some issues with Facebook Messenger.For some reason, my key...
29/07/2026

Hi everyone! Just a quick heads-up that I’m currently having some issues with Facebook Messenger.

For some reason, my keyboard won’t appear when I open messages, so while I can see your messages and even react to them, I can’t actually type a reply at the moment.

I’m trying to get it sorted as soon as I can. If you’ve sent me a message and I haven’t replied, please know I’m not ignoring you—it’s just a technical issue.

Thanks so much for your patience! 😊

27/07/2026

You know when you think you’re about to have a simple day… and then Bakasana turns into a biomechanics problem? 😂

This one became a bit of an adventure — and a journey of discovery. My imagination may have gone slightly wild while I was researching how forces move through the body, and how all these different parts work together to keep us balanced against gravity.

The deeper I went into the research, the harder it became to describe this pose as simply a question of strength, balance or technique.

Because those things aren’t really operating independently.

Your hands create the base you’re balancing over. Your body position changes where your mass sits relative to that base. Your joints change position, moment arms change, muscular demands change — and your nervous system has to coordinate the whole thing.

Which means two people can struggle with exactly the same pose for completely different reasons.

So rather than asking:

“Why can’t I do Bakasana?”

Try asking:

“Where does my Bakasana actually break down?”

Can you shift your weight forward comfortably?
Can you get your feet off the floor?
Can you create enough compression to bring your knees high?
Can you maintain the shape once you’re there?
Do your wrists have the mobility and capacity to tolerate the position?

Find the piece that’s limiting the movement.

That’s the part I’m most interested in — because once you can identify where the system is failing, you have a much better idea of what you actually need to train.

I’ve also put together a free Bakasana class on YouTube where we’ll spend around 20–30 minutes training these pieces individually and then putting them back together.

Same pose. Different sticking points. Different solutions.

Research informing this video:
Neumann, Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System
Biomechanical analyses of the handstand: a systematic review (2025)
Research examining balance-control strategies in hand balancing

22/07/2026

Instagram Caption

Every movement you make starts with a conversation.

In this reel we’re only looking at a single neuron. One tiny cell making one tiny decision: Should I fire or not?

But that tiny decision is happening over and over again, across billions of neurons, every time you move.

Every step.
Every squat.
Every arm balance.
Every deep forward fold.

For me, understanding the nervous system completely changed the way I think about flexibility, strength and movement.

The goal of this series isn’t to overwhelm you with anatomy—it’s to translate it into something that actually makes sense.

Because once you understand the language your body has been speaking all along, movement starts to look very different.

And this is only the beginning.

References
• Enoka, R. M. Neuromechanics of Human Movement (6th Edition).

What part surprised you the most? 👇

yoga

Muscle of the Week: Gluteus MediusMost people learn that the gluteus medius abducts the hip and that’s true. But muscles...
19/07/2026

Muscle of the Week: Gluteus Medius

Most people learn that the gluteus medius abducts the hip and that’s true. But muscles are often more interesting when you look at what they’re doing during movement.

When you’re standing on one leg, walking, running, balancing or practising yoga, your centre of mass is constantly shifting. Rather than locking your pelvis in place, the gluteus medius continually adjusts its force to help organise the pelvis while allowing the rest of your body to keep moving.

This is where anatomy meets movement science.

Stability isn’t simply about creating rigidity. It’s about your nervous system continuously adjusting the timing and level of muscle activation in response to changing forces. Those small, ongoing adjustments help you stay balanced while still allowing efficient, coordinated movement.

Extended Side Angle is one example. As your torso reaches overhead and your weight shifts over the standing leg, the gluteus medius contributes to managing those changing forces so movement can continue through the spine, rib cage and shoulders.

Understanding muscles this way shifts the question from:

“What action does this muscle perform?”

to

“How does this muscle help solve a movement problem?”

That’s the perspective I’ll be exploring throughout this series.

References
• Neumann, Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System (2024)
• Shumway-Cook & Woollacott, Motor Control: Translating Research into Clinical Practice (2025)





23/06/2026

Can hold a side plank but can’t take the toe? 🤔

A lot of people assume they need more flexibility, but flexibility is only one piece of the puzzle.

Taking the toe in side plank also requires:

✓ Side-body strength
✓ Active hip flexion
✓ Hamstring and inner-thigh mobility
✓ Balance and coordination

One of my favourite foundations for this pose is Triangle Pose. It helps build the shape, mobility and awareness needed before adding the challenge of supporting your body weight.

If you’re working toward this posture, start simple. The tree-pose variation is a fantastic stepping stone and helps develop the active hip flexion and external rotation needed before straightening the leg.

Remember: sometimes progress isn’t about stretching more. Sometimes it’s about improving strength, coordination and body awareness.

What pose would you like me to break down next? 👇

🎥 Full 30-minute Take The Toe flow available on YouTube. Learn to Take Your Toe in Side Plank | 30-Minute Yoga Flow
https://youtu.be/6KepSzmwEzc





18/06/2026

I disappeared down a neuromechanics rabbit hole for this one, and it turns out your nervous system is far more interesting than most of us were taught.

Flexibility isn’t just about stretching your muscles. It’s also about how well your nervous system can create force and control in those positions.

Every second, your muscles, tendons, and joints are sending information to your spinal cord and brain. Your nervous system weighs up thousands of tiny “go” and “slow down” signals before deciding how much force to create.

That’s one of the reasons why someone can have the range for the splits but still feel weak, shaky, or stuck there.

Strength training helps your nervous system build confidence and control in long ranges.

Try adding these exercises to your practice:

• Loaded crescent lunge: 2–3 sets × 6–10 reps per side

• Stride stance good morning: 2–3 sets × 8–12 reps per side

Think of training as a conversation with your body.

Except instead of using words, you’re using force.

Want to get started? My at-home splits class is linked below, and the full splits program waitlist is in my bio.

We’re only just getting started. 🧠

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Sydney, NSW
2026

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