In general, when you do your hatha yoga practice, you should be barefoot. Being barefoot helps prevent you from falling or sliding on your mat. This is particularly important for poses like the downward facing dog that require you hold a pose on all fours.
However, like with anything else there are sometimes exceptions to the rule! I discovered this while refining my practice of the arm and leg stretch as I was writing it up for my upcoming yoga book. The arm and leg stretch requires considerable balance and coordination for the non-athletic beginner (that was yours truly!) Being able to hold the pose for 20 to 30 seconds when starting out can seem like a future impossibility.
Just as some children benefit from using training wheels to learn how to balance on a bicycle, I found it can be helpful for the beginner learning this pose to wear athletic shoes and to do the pose on a hardwood or stone floor. The shoes and the harder surface give you needed support. It's also helpful to do this pose against a wall to catch yourself in case you start wobbling and fear that you're going to fall over.
Even though doing this pose without bare feet may seem sacrilegious, I believe that wearing athletic shoes doesn't interfere with the nice stretch that your arms and spine gain from doing this pose. With consistent practice, you will be able to dispense with the shoes and do the pose barefoot.
Wisdom of the Day: "A feeling of lightness also develops from improved balance and grace revealing itself in every moment of the body and in the air about you."~Eugene Rawls & Eve Diskin, Yoga for Beauty and Health.
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