This essay describes how we would practice yoga IF we had a tail.
The idea for this came during an Anatomy class during my Yoga Teacher Training at Nithya Priyan School of Yoga. Let’s call it science fiction with some realistic anatomy considerations!
We commonly accept that our tailbones (Coccyx) are a useless vestigial relic of Humanity’s Evolution, approximately 4 million years ago [1] before our ancestors lifted themselves off their hands to walk on two feet, freeing up their hands to use for manipulating objects, tools and weapons, and gaining the height to gaze over the grass of the savanna.
In the described transformation, we maintained a tail.
The function of a tail includes:
Balancing,
Communication
Hygiene (chasing insects away).
Only the first two functions will be discussed regarding physical yoga practice. For the following, let’s try to imagine we would still have a tail!
Since it is widely accepted to believe that humans evolved from Africa, it will be assumed that the modern, tailed human is closer related to the other parvorder, ‘Catarrhini’ (apes and Old-World monkeys from Africa).
This concludes that our fictive, tailed human has a lesser functional, non-prehensile tail. Let’s just assume that tail had a length of approx. 70% of the total body size. It would change so many aspects of human life, even modern technology. Many things we take for granted would have been designed very differently:
Bicycles would be responsible for many tail related accidents and in consequence be designed very differently from non-tailed-human bikes.
Modern elevator doors would only close when all users face the door, ensuring that no tail can be stuck.
The changes in social aspects, e.g. culture, fashion, misuse in racism or suppression, shall not be discussed in this document. Nevertheless, the social aspect regarding the use of a tail in communication is responsible for the first of two significant changes of yogasana:
1. Communicating with a Tail
Where’s a tail, there is tail-language. Think of your dog curling its tail between the legs. We all know that means it is stressed or even fearful. A cat with a wiggling, horizontal tail, might be just about to catch prey.
And how about us? Assuming the tailed human uses the tail similar to for example the Old-world group of macaques [2], following considerations apply:
A lifted tail will have a strong signal for either dominance or sexual presentation
A waving tail has an affiliative signal, meaning socializing and pleasure.
A tail slowly moved from left to right is considered active listening.
Therefore, cueing of tail positions determine whether a pose or sequence is arousing, cheering or soothing.
A lifted tail in downward facing dog for example, must only be instructed by yoga teachers with well-developed instinct for the class’s composition and mental state.
A cheering tail position as counteraction (Pratikriyasana) calms down the class effectively.
In case of any doubt, or in classes with more than 3 males, a lowered tail in quadrupedal standing positions is a must.
The Ananda Balasana, Happy baby pose, gains intensity with a wagging tail and can cheer up every class, almost reaching ecstatic states. It would be as if we’d laugh out loud!
In general, the tail position during the sequences has to be well planned to control the intensity of the practice.
Needless to say, any kind of discrimination regarding tail size or unwanted movements of said must be given no space in modern yoga classes.
2. Physiology and Kinesiology of Tailed Humans [3]
Our skeleton changed massively when our ancestors began to walk on their two feet. The center of gravity is right above the feet, so balancing is easier, and the hands are free to chase pests away [4]. While balance is easily found with a straight body, and climbing in trees is kind of out, a tail becomes useless. Communication became more and more a role of the head and face. The consequence here is nothing less than fictional tailed humans being still mainly quadrupedal. Otherwise the tail would have disappeared over time. Our fictional tailed human never stood up to walk on two feet.
Walking on all four is the second change of yogasana. How does that change our abilities?
Legs: Standing positions on the feet are hard work, because the femurs’ head is weaker compared to upright walkers. Legs cannot bear the body weight for long. Additionally the rib cage is rounder (barrel shaped) so that the center of gravity is more to the front of the upright body. The posterior chain is highly engaged and needs release of tension afterwards. The shallower and flatter shaped pelvis supports the intestines lesser and does not transfer weight to the legs in an effective way. Anyway, standing upright has no importance since it never was practiced for long in human history. That said:
upright standing positions like Tadasana take over the role of e.g. a headstand for tailed humans.
Warrior positions as well as one-legged standing balances like Vrikshasana, Tree Pose, are only accessible to very few tailed humans. The legs have to be prepared carefully. The tail has to be extended as far as possible for balancing, without pushing too hard into the mat.
Arms: Arm balances are of much lesser intensity for tailed humans, because the arms are much stronger. In combination with a tail, arm balancing poses are even easier, and so replace the standing positions.
All `tailed` Warriors are practiced upside down (inversion!) on the hands. The weaker legs find the position of the arms in bipedal’s standing Warrior poses. Virabhadrasana I cannot be performed with open hip (see section ‘hip’). So the legs are reaching straight upwards with squared hips.
Warrior II is the front split version of Warrior I.
Warrior III is a one-arm balanced high plank.
Dangling Earring, Crow pose and such are a gentle warm up for the strong arms before inversions.
Hips: The tail differentiates humans clearly from greater apes. That means, they do not share the flexible hip (Coxa rotunda, round femoral head) of these large climbers, what would provide extraordinary leg movements. The fictional humans, being terrestrial runners, share the less flexible hip (Coxa recta) with [5] most mammals . Outward rotation of the hips is very limited and is not wanted. The feet have to be close to body while running on all four legs while the hands are slightly wider apart. If the hips would open further, collisions of hands and feet would happen easily.
Hip opening poses like Scorpion tail, Lizard or Pigeon pose are not recommended at all. The range of extension is increased compared to bipedal tailless humans, so that standing positions can be considered hip opening positions in the saggital plane.
Stretching of the hip flexors can also happen in Shavasana, when the legs are actively pushed onto the mat.
The relaxing variation of Shavasana is performed with slightly bend knees, the tail might wiggle slightly.
Shoulders: The quadrupedal, tailed humans have shoulder blades located more to the sides of the rib [6] cage, meaning that the shoulder joints are closer to the midline of the body . Outward rotations are [7] limiting the center of gravity to right above the feet, so balancing is easier, and the hands are free to chase pests away balance is easily found with a straight body, and climbing in trees is kind of out, a tail becomes useless. Communication became more and more a role of the head and face. The consequence here is nothing less than fictional tailed humans being still mainly quadrupedal. Otherwise the tail would have disappeared over time.
Our fictional tailed human never stood up to walk on two feet. Walking on all four is the second change of yogasana. How does that change our abilities?
Spine: The tailed humans have a more or less C shaped spine [8].
Back bends in the way bipedal humans do it, are out of reach, but hip extensions give it a similar feeling of bending back. The spine is not arched in these poses, but the back muscles (posterior chain) is highly engaged to keep the body straight up, since the center of gravity is in front of the body. A common cue is “bring your tail towards your spine, maybe tip touching head”.
3. Conclusion
Tails and Warriors – possible, but different. And absolutely science fiction. A tail would make so many changes in behavior and body, that we cannot even be sure if we would be as developed as we are. So maybe there wouldn’t be yoga at all? Luckily there is!
Ignoring these facts, the assumption alone that we’d walk on all fours would be responsible for huge differences in the whole skeleton. Hip, spine and shoulder alignments induce dramatical variations of yoga asanas. No doubt that physical practice in an adopted way would be as beneficial for the body as it is in reality today.
The use of tails for communication would intensify the emotional impact of yoga poses. The tail would have at least partly the role of facial and verbal expressions. Other than the verbal expressions, the tail position would be part of the asanas and has potential for misinterpretation. The group dynamics become a huge role in yoga teacher trainings.
It has to be mentioned, that a few dozen of real tailed humans have been reported [9] . This kind of vestigial tails is very different from the above described fictional tail. This document was in no sense related to any people with this anatomic occurrence.
About Matthias
Matthias Bouwman is currently a Term Teacher conducting classes in school. Join him for your next yoga practice, tails are optional!
References:
[1] https://humanorigins.si.edu/education/introduction-human-evolution
[2] https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/macaques/macaques/behaviour-and-communication/
[3] https://www.pathwayz.org/Tree/Plain/APES+VS.+HOMININ+SKELETONS
[4] https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-dont-we-have-tails/
[5] https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8252/5d6c806ea248a5b96898a9e42fe206de3b5c.pdf
[6] https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-locomotion-105284696/
[7] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11322537_Shoulder_movement_during_quadrupedal_loco motion_in_arboreal_primates
[8] https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-locomotion-105284696/
[9] https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0046817784800799?token=3FF7FDDFE24F43B6823AFA15E3 E64337D026EC67A0F2E3E93C1269D71BE031714A9C99E0DD9AA4E7B88F427368E489AE
