As yoga teachers, we have been trained to look for alignment in our students. But why are we so fixated on alignment? What does an 'alignment-based yoga teacher' do differently, better or worse? In this episode, we discuss what alignment means to us and our purpose as teachers. We go over 2 important viewpoints from senior teachers Leslie Kaminoff and Bernie Clark on alignment and where it fails us and where it guides us.

 

// IN THIS EPISODE //

 

What does calling yourself an 'alignment-based yoga teacher' mean? (10:00)

We are taught in 200hr yoga teacher trainings that well-aligned poses create the safest joint alignment. Is this true? (11:47)

Lots of alignment cues come from 200 hr YTT training teachers to put group classes quickly and 'safely' into a pose. However, there are many drawbacks to simply teaching with cues from a 200 hr YTT (14:51)

"A lot of alignment in general is the balance of the deeper muscles closer to the joint capsule and the superficial muscles to bring more integrity to the joints." (16:35)

Tensegrity plays a huge role in how we 'align' our bodies in poses (24:06)

Leslie Kaminoff's article in yoga journal, "Asanas don't have alignment" (29:55)

We break down dancer's pose into it's constituent parts and talk about how to think about asana more functionally (33:52)

Bernie Clark's Yoga International article, "Functional Yoga: When is Alignment Important?" (42:27)

 

// RESOURCES & LINKS //

 

Leslie Kaminoff's article

Leslie Kaminoff's book "Yoga Anatomy"

Bernie Clark's article

Myofascial Release video link for Traps

Myofascial Release video link for Gluts

Rad Roller – The myofascial release tools we use every day

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