Alignment Yoga Certification

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flex Your Feet In Supine Poses

Image
I've always found it fascinating how flexing the feet in reclined poses helps you access the pose so much more deeply. I think because we are lying down, it's easy to assume that only passivity is required. But in truth, to achieve all the benefits available to you, tension and action are necessary. In my first photo you will see an example of what a "flexed foot" looks like. The toes are wide, the ball of the foot is pressing as if it were pressing against an object, and the heel is wide and pressing away from the body as well. I've heard it described as "Birdie Feet", drawing your attention to the intentional muscular activation around the arches. A great way to begin to cultivate this action is in Bananasana or Reclined Crescent Pose. In this version - cross your legs and flex your feet. A burning sensation will begin to build. The goal is to be still, but again - to truly settle in, the enlivened foot draws the proper coordinates in terms of skelet...
Read more

The Natarajasana Knee: Grounded Dancer Modification

Image
Surrendering to the earth, lengthening the spine, spiraling from an axis, breathing purposefully... These; again, are our 4 Principles of Alignment Yoga: every asana approached with this specificity, in a precise order. Yet it may still seem counterintuitive to view Natarajasana or 'Dancer's Pose' as a grounding pose. Most teachers cue it big and bold - kicking the leg back while reaching the opposite arm forward. However, in this version, we'll follow the knee as it points down and anchors into the ground. Likewise, the opposite arm comes around back, rather than extending far forward. Length, then, happens quite naturally in this pose. Having both hands holding the lifted foot requires a drawing into the center line of the body. Furthermore, the elbow on the arm supporting the foot, also weighs downward. Of course, knees and elbows are soft - not locked out - but adjustable. Feeling into the turning of the knee straight towards the floor, while heavying the elbow a...
Read more

The Shoulder Blades Hold Your Heart

Image
It's Valentine's Day! The day of 'The Heart'. In Yoga, we constantly refer to 'The Heart' in terms of energetic principles related to 'The Heart Chakra' or philosophical principles concerned with morals and ethics. However, for the purpose of this article, in accordance with 'Alignment Yoga' we're going to view 'The Heart' from the back body. And we're going to identify the Shoulder Blades as the 'Seat of the Heart'. The idea being that the more we engage the tiny muscles of the shoulder blades, the infraspinatus, the more open and receptive 'The Heart Space' becomes. All of us can benefit from this very simple action of squeezing the shoulder blades together. In the above photo, I'm using a chopstick as a prop to demonstrate where this action occurs. Squeezing the shoulder blades together widens the front body and collar bones. And it's crucial to remember a very important aspect of often complex should...
Read more