April 21, 2025 • 19 mins
We discussed safety in the last episode because I believe we all come from that standpoint. Thinking safety begs the question, “Is our understanding of 'correct alignment' safe for all students?” That took me down a deep rabbit hole and was an inspiration for these episodes on what we teach students about alignment.
Ask yourself if, since your initial Yoga Teacher Training, have your beliefs around alignment in yoga evolved significantly?
In this episode, we’ll explore more around changing our ideas & our teaching about alignment by focusing on skeletal variations & students’ personal preferences.
Click HERE to send me a text & let me know your thoughts on this episode!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Monica (00:01):
We are back with another alignment conversation.
Since this conversation has somany legs, I've been careful
about how I cover the manybeliefs around it.
I wanna continue to be mindfulof your time and how you receive
and integrate information.
So if I were to cram all of mythoughts into one episode, it
(00:22):
would be a really long episodeand.
One thing my career in educationhas taught me is how to
disseminate information easilyand to give you space to ponder
and understand it.
In this episode, I'm going tofocus on two more perspectives
that we once held onto, but aremoving away from.
Those are skeletal variationsand personal preference.
(00:46):
If you don't have it already, goget your journal, Welcome to the
Essential Conversations for YogaTeachers Podcast with me.
I'm Monica Bright and I've beenteaching yoga and running my
yoga business for over a decade.
This is the podcast for you.
If you are a yoga teacher,you're looking for support.
(01:08):
You love to be in conversation,and you're a lifelong student.
In this podcast, I'll share withyou.
My life as a yoga teacher, thelessons I've learned, my process
for building my business andhelpful ideas, tools, strategies
and systems I use and you canuse so that your business
(01:31):
thrives.
We'll cover a diverse range oftopics that will help you,
whether you're just starting outor you've got years under your
belt and you wanna dive deep andset yourself up for success.
I am so glad you're here.
Listen, I don't take myself tooseriously, so expect to hear
(01:51):
some laughs along the way.
Now let's do this together.
Welcome back to the podcast.
I'm Monica, and I'm so gladyou're here.
You know, I love havingconversations around anatomy,
pain, injuries, the nervoussystem, and how these affect
(02:13):
your sequencing.
Over the years and throughout mycontinuing education, I found
that these differentconversations were not being
tied.
Together.
For example, if I wanted tolearn more about injuries, I was
just learning about specificinjuries, but that education was
not being tied back tosequencing.
(02:35):
I had to put those piecestogether myself, and while I was
doing that, I started divingeven deeper into certain
subjects, one of them beingalignment and why we're so rigid
when it comes to it.
Okay.
We discussed safety in the lastepisode because I believe we all
come from that standpoint.
(02:57):
However, it begs the question isour understanding of correct
alignment safe for all students.
That took me down a deep rabbithole and was inspiration for
these episodes on what we teachstudents about alignment.
Here's a question.
Since your initial yoga teachertraining, have your beliefs
(03:19):
around alignment in yoga evolvedsignificantly?
Traditionally alignment wastaught as a set of fixed
universal principles, certaincues, angles, and posture
requirements that wereconsidered correct for all
bodies.
You can see examples of this inmany yoga books.
However, the discussions we'rehaving now about alignment rules
(03:43):
are influenced by movement,science, biomechanics, and
inclusivity.
Now we've incorporated anemphasis on functional movement,
individual variation, andnervous system safety over rigid
alignment rules.
In this episode, we'll exploremore around changing our ideas
(04:06):
and our teaching about alignmentby focusing on skeletal
variations and students'personal preference.
First up, let's discuss skeletalvariation and why people's poses
look different.
Skeletal variation refers tonatural differences in bone
(04:27):
structure, joint shape, andproportions from.
Person to person.
These differences can affect howsomeone moves, how much mobility
they have, and how their bodyaligns in different yoga poses.
Think about the student who issix foot three inches with long
(04:47):
legs, versus another studentlike myself who is four feet, 11
and three quarters inches, andhey, I claim all of those three
quarters.
Of an inch.
Imagine us both in a standingforward fold, If we just stay on
(05:08):
the topic that our bones aredifferent lengths, the taller
student may never be able totouch their fingers to the
ground no matter how often theyfold or practice.
It's because of their skeletalmakeup that the pose looks
different in our bodies.
As teachers, we must honor thistruth For many years, we were
(05:29):
trained to assume that if astudent couldn't achieve a
certain alignment, they justneeded more flexibility or more
practice.
But we now acknowledge that bonestructure, not just flexibility,
limits movement.
So remember.
Bone structure plays a huge rolein yoga poses.
(05:50):
Some students will never be ableto get into certain shapes due
to differences in jointstructure, and instead of
forcing students into a specificlook, we should encourage
exploration and adaptation.
So let's look at a few moreskeletal variations that affect
alignment in Asana.
(06:10):
First is The shape and depth ofthe hip socket, the acetabulum
and femur head, that's the thighbone, will vary from person to
person.
Some people have shallow hipsockets allowing for more
external rotation, meaning it'seasier to do poses like lotus
pose or even just a seated crossleg pose.
(06:34):
Others have.
Deep hip sockets, which maylimit external rotation and make
poses like lotus or wide-leggedforward folds or even tree pose
a little bit more difficult.
No amount of stretching willchange someone's bone structure,
meaning some poses just aren'tpossible for certain students.
(06:56):
You'll never know someone's hipsocket structure because
students aren't coming to classwith their x-rays in hand.
That would be the only way youcould know the shape of their
hip sockets.
Secondly, as I mentioned in theexample above is femur length.
That's the thigh bone.
Now you can generally see thisfrom the outside.
(07:17):
The next time you're teaching,look at someone and just take a
visual measurement from theirhip crease to their knee joint.
Compare the measurement toyours.
Do you have a visibledifference?
If you wanna get more technical,maybe with someone you know, you
could use a measuring tape andcompare the difference or the
similarities in the lengths ofyour femur bones.
(07:38):
A person with long femurs maylook different in poses than
other students, But it's notwrong.
It's just their alignment andthat's appropriate for their
bodies.
All right.
Number three is spinalcurvature, the spine has natural
curves, and it needs to, becausethis is how our bodies absorb
(08:00):
shock and forces.
Imagine if you were to jump fromthe third stair and your
vertebrae were stacked straighton top of one another.
It would affect how your bodyabsorb the forces from
connecting with the ground whenyou landed.
The cervical and lumbar spineshave what's called a lordotic.
Curve and the thoracic spine andyour sacrum have a natural
(08:24):
forward rounding calledkyphosis, or a kyphotic curve.
You can move the thoracic spinea bit, but you cannot move your
sacrum because the bones arefused together and although it
moves a little bit, it moves asa unit.
These natural curves of thespine vary from student to
student, and they influencetheir back bends and forward
(08:47):
folds.
Some people's lumbar spinethat's in the lower back has a
greater natural curve makingback bins like wheel pose feel
easier.
Others may struggle due to lesscurvature in their lumbar spine.
And finally, let's touch on thestructure of the shoulder joint.
(09:07):
The shoulder joint is naturallya more shallow joint than the
hip joint, which makes it moremobile and more prone to injury.
Some people have naturally moremobile shoulder joints, which
allows for more overhead armmovements, for example, in
downward facing dog.
However, again, I caution youthat this joint can be unstable
(09:33):
and we should not be forcingextreme movements, especially in
weight-bearing poses.
Some students may experiencebony limitations that make
raising their arms overhead,uncomfortable, or restricted.
Again, you would not know thisfor sure unless you looked at
their x-rays.
(09:53):
However, there are some armmovements that you can practice
with them and see where theynaturally stop.
That might be an indicator thatthey have a skeletal
restriction, which will limitmore movement.
here's the takeaway.
Instead of telling students thatoppose must look a certain way,
offer variations, encourage yourstudents to explore what works
(10:17):
for their bodies.
Some students might need a widerstance, a different hand
position, or props.
and resist, assuming that lackof flexibility is the issue.
If a student is struggling in apose, it could be their bone
structure, and not tightmuscles.
(10:38):
Now let's shift and discussstudents' personal preference
because this is a big deal.
As teachers, we should hold thebelief that alignment is a
personal matter.
What works for one student maynot be safe.
Functional or accessible foranother.
Instead of trying to fitstudents into rigid alignment
(11:00):
models, we should help studentsexplore and decide what
alignment works best for theirown unique bodies.
It should be taught as apersonal decision because like I
mentioned before, skeletalvariations matter differences in
joint shape, bone length, andspinal curves Affect how oppose
(11:21):
feels and functions for eachstudent.
If you find that a studentstruggles in a pose, it might
not be about their flexibilityor how strong or tolerant they
are.
It could be simply their bonelength and or how their bones
fit together.
Okay.
Secondly, what if a student hastheir own personal goals and
(11:43):
intentions for their practice?
Some students practice yoga formovement while others focus on
strength, stress relief, orinjury recovery.
The best alignment depends onwhat they need and what they
want from their practice, whichalso means they need to seek
teachers that can give them whatthey want.
(12:05):
Third, a student's pain andinjury history plays a huge role
in their practice.
A student with a history of backpain or knee issues may need a
different stance, A differentkind of prop support or even
another pose variation thansomeone without those concerns.
(12:28):
It's our job to help studentsmodify their alignment based on
their comfort and functionrather than fitting them into an
aesthetic idea, Since I've hadhamstring injuries on my left
leg, my warrior too looksdifferent on the left side than
it does on the right.
It continues to feel differentside to side for me as well.
(12:52):
So if a teacher would've askedme to go deeper on the left
side, I wouldn't really wanna dothat because of my own personal
injury history.
Finally, there's movement,preferences, and comfort.
Some students feel better in aslightly different alignment
than the textbook version of apose.
(13:13):
For example, in Warrior One,some students will naturally
turn their back foot out morebecause of how their hip joint
is structured.
Forcing them into a narrowerstance could create unnecessary
sensation or strain.
I could go on for days aboutalignment rules in Warrior One
(13:34):
from the length, width, and footpositioning of the stance to the
hips spine, where the shouldersface overhead, arm positioning
to the gaze.
Warrior one is a lot.
And I used to hate this posebecause I was being taught
specific alignment rules Andsimultaneously being told that
(13:56):
if I hated it, it meant I neededto practice it more.
That's a whole entire rabbithole that we could go down.
We should be giving studentspermission to position their
bodies in ways that feel rightfor them.
I have so many examples of thisin my body and in students'
(14:16):
bodies.
I could go on and on.
If there's a specific pose thatyou feel like you wanna give
students some leeway in butdon't know how, send me a
message.
Let me know which one, and I cantalk you through it.
Instead of trying to adjuststudents to fit a specific pose,
(14:37):
think of alignment as aconversation, not a command.
Resist assuming that there is anideal alignment for everyone.
Students already feel pressuredto look a certain way, poses,
but we can teach them to listento their own bodies and
encourage students to explorewhat feels best for them.
(14:59):
Instead of saying the correctalignment for this pose is try
saying, pause here and explorewhat alignment feels best for
your body right now.
or instead of saying, your feetmust always be hip with distance
apart.
Try saying.
Try a few different footplacements and notice what feels
(15:22):
the most stable for you.
The main takeaway from thisepisode is to help you to
encourage students to listen totheir bodies and make alignment
choices based on what feelssafe, stable, and functional,
rather than what looks.
Correct.
Our bodies are different whetherit's because of skeletal
(15:42):
variations or personalpreference, and students should
be given the freedom to practicein a way that feels safe and
supportive for their bodies, notfollowing an arbitrary alignment
rule or a picture in a book.
Remember, alignment is personaland your cues should be
(16:03):
exploratory and encouraging.
In next week's episode, we'lldive into strength versus
flexibility, nervous systemresponses, and injury
prevention.
If you leave knowing this,students' bodies are different,
and we should celebrate all ofthe differences we see then I
(16:25):
think I've done my job on thisepisode.
what do you think about queuingalignment?
Have you ever told a student tojust keep practicing and one day
you'll get it?
Have you ever asked a student tochange their alignment based on
what you think they should looklike?
I always want you to leavefeeling empowered.
(16:45):
I too have been here.
I didn't know any better, butthen I learned more about
anatomy, movement, injuries, andthe nervous system, and it
changed my teaching forever.
This is what I want for you tocontinue to learn and evolve
your teaching.
If you want a deeperunderstanding of anatomy and how
(17:06):
it might change the way youteach, you are in the right
place.
I know it might feeloverwhelming at the start, but
there are ways to makeunderstanding it a little less
complex.
I teach anatomy as it relates toteaching yoga, So you aren't
learning random bones andmuscles, but understanding how
these parts of the body areincorporated into the yoga
(17:29):
practice.
I believe with all my heart thatyoga teachers are movement
educators, and we mustunderstand the human body and
its movements in order to beeffective in our teaching.
It is so important for us tohave this conversation, and
sometimes teaching can feellonely, which is another reason
(17:51):
why I started this podcast.
So you'd have a place to go toask questions and to get
answers.
If you haven't already downloadthe ebook sequencing for
different injuries.
The link is in the show notes.
I promise you it will help forma foundation for teaching
students with injuries and agingbodies.
The information will also helpyou understand how to
(18:14):
accommodate students ofdifferent abilities, and it'll
be a great resource for you toreturn to again and again.
When you download the ebook,you'll be joining my newsletter.
That's just for yoga teachers.
I've got more exciting teachingscoming soon, so I wanna tell you
all about them.
The link is in the show notesbelow, and I would love for you
(18:34):
to join it so we can always stayconnected.
You know that my goal for you isto love the yoga teaching life
and allow it to be fulfillingand rewarding.
If you love this episode, let meknow.
I've added a link in the shownotes for you to send me a quick
text message about your thoughtson this episode.
(18:55):
I won't know your phone number.
It's just a neat addition to theplatform I use that allows for
this easy way for you tocommunicate with me.
Once you click on it, it willtake you to your messages, but
don't delete the code.
That's how your message will getto me, and I would love to know
your thoughts.
Subscribe to the podcast soyou're always in the know when a
(19:16):
new episode drops and share itwith another yoga teacher who
you think would love to be in onthese conversations.
Thank you for helping to spreadthe word about this podcast and
if you've been taking notes inyour journal as you listen to
these episodes, I'm so glad youare and I'd love to hear about
it.
Alright, that's it for now.
(19:37):
Bye.
We are back with another alignment conversation.
Since this conversation has somany legs, I've been careful
about how I cover the manybeliefs around it.
I wanna continue to be mindfulof your time and how you receive
and integrate information.
So if I were to cram all of mythoughts into one episode, it
(00:22):
would be a really long episodeand.
One thing my career in educationhas taught me is how to
disseminate information easilyand to give you space to ponder
and understand it.
In this episode, I'm going tofocus on two more perspectives
that we once held onto, but aremoving away from.
Those are skeletal variationsand personal preference.
(00:46):
If you don't have it already, goget your journal, Welcome to the
Essential Conversations for YogaTeachers Podcast with me.
I'm Monica Bright and I've beenteaching yoga and running my
yoga business for over a decade.
This is the podcast for you.
If you are a yoga teacher,you're looking for support.
(01:08):
You love to be in conversation,and you're a lifelong student.
In this podcast, I'll share withyou.
My life as a yoga teacher, thelessons I've learned, my process
for building my business andhelpful ideas, tools, strategies
and systems I use and you canuse so that your business
(01:31):
thrives.
We'll cover a diverse range oftopics that will help you,
whether you're just starting outor you've got years under your
belt and you wanna dive deep andset yourself up for success.
I am so glad you're here.
Listen, I don't take myself tooseriously, so expect to hear
(01:51):
some laughs along the way.
Now let's do this together.
Welcome back to the podcast.
I'm Monica, and I'm so gladyou're here.
You know, I love havingconversations around anatomy,
pain, injuries, the nervoussystem, and how these affect
(02:13):
your sequencing.
Over the years and throughout mycontinuing education, I found
that these differentconversations were not being
tied.
Together.
For example, if I wanted tolearn more about injuries, I was
just learning about specificinjuries, but that education was
not being tied back tosequencing.
(02:35):
I had to put those piecestogether myself, and while I was
doing that, I started divingeven deeper into certain
subjects, one of them beingalignment and why we're so rigid
when it comes to it.
Okay.
We discussed safety in the lastepisode because I believe we all
come from that standpoint.
(02:57):
However, it begs the question isour understanding of correct
alignment safe for all students.
That took me down a deep rabbithole and was inspiration for
these episodes on what we teachstudents about alignment.
Here's a question.
Since your initial yoga teachertraining, have your beliefs
(03:19):
around alignment in yoga evolvedsignificantly?
Traditionally alignment wastaught as a set of fixed
universal principles, certaincues, angles, and posture
requirements that wereconsidered correct for all
bodies.
You can see examples of this inmany yoga books.
However, the discussions we'rehaving now about alignment rules
(03:43):
are influenced by movement,science, biomechanics, and
inclusivity.
Now we've incorporated anemphasis on functional movement,
individual variation, andnervous system safety over rigid
alignment rules.
In this episode, we'll exploremore around changing our ideas
(04:06):
and our teaching about alignmentby focusing on skeletal
variations and students'personal preference.
First up, let's discuss skeletalvariation and why people's poses
look different.
Skeletal variation refers tonatural differences in bone
(04:27):
structure, joint shape, andproportions from.
Person to person.
These differences can affect howsomeone moves, how much mobility
they have, and how their bodyaligns in different yoga poses.
Think about the student who issix foot three inches with long
(04:47):
legs, versus another studentlike myself who is four feet, 11
and three quarters inches, andhey, I claim all of those three
quarters.
Of an inch.
Imagine us both in a standingforward fold, If we just stay on
(05:08):
the topic that our bones aredifferent lengths, the taller
student may never be able totouch their fingers to the
ground no matter how often theyfold or practice.
It's because of their skeletalmakeup that the pose looks
different in our bodies.
As teachers, we must honor thistruth For many years, we were
(05:29):
trained to assume that if astudent couldn't achieve a
certain alignment, they justneeded more flexibility or more
practice.
But we now acknowledge that bonestructure, not just flexibility,
limits movement.
So remember.
Bone structure plays a huge rolein yoga poses.
(05:50):
Some students will never be ableto get into certain shapes due
to differences in jointstructure, and instead of
forcing students into a specificlook, we should encourage
exploration and adaptation.
So let's look at a few moreskeletal variations that affect
alignment in Asana.
(06:10):
First is The shape and depth ofthe hip socket, the acetabulum
and femur head, that's the thighbone, will vary from person to
person.
Some people have shallow hipsockets allowing for more
external rotation, meaning it'seasier to do poses like lotus
pose or even just a seated crossleg pose.
(06:34):
Others have.
Deep hip sockets, which maylimit external rotation and make
poses like lotus or wide-leggedforward folds or even tree pose
a little bit more difficult.
No amount of stretching willchange someone's bone structure,
meaning some poses just aren'tpossible for certain students.
(06:56):
You'll never know someone's hipsocket structure because
students aren't coming to classwith their x-rays in hand.
That would be the only way youcould know the shape of their
hip sockets.
Secondly, as I mentioned in theexample above is femur length.
That's the thigh bone.
Now you can generally see thisfrom the outside.
(07:17):
The next time you're teaching,look at someone and just take a
visual measurement from theirhip crease to their knee joint.
Compare the measurement toyours.
Do you have a visibledifference?
If you wanna get more technical,maybe with someone you know, you
could use a measuring tape andcompare the difference or the
similarities in the lengths ofyour femur bones.
(07:38):
A person with long femurs maylook different in poses than
other students, But it's notwrong.
It's just their alignment andthat's appropriate for their
bodies.
All right.
Number three is spinalcurvature, the spine has natural
curves, and it needs to, becausethis is how our bodies absorb
(08:00):
shock and forces.
Imagine if you were to jump fromthe third stair and your
vertebrae were stacked straighton top of one another.
It would affect how your bodyabsorb the forces from
connecting with the ground whenyou landed.
The cervical and lumbar spineshave what's called a lordotic.
Curve and the thoracic spine andyour sacrum have a natural
(08:24):
forward rounding calledkyphosis, or a kyphotic curve.
You can move the thoracic spinea bit, but you cannot move your
sacrum because the bones arefused together and although it
moves a little bit, it moves asa unit.
These natural curves of thespine vary from student to
student, and they influencetheir back bends and forward
(08:47):
folds.
Some people's lumbar spinethat's in the lower back has a
greater natural curve makingback bins like wheel pose feel
easier.
Others may struggle due to lesscurvature in their lumbar spine.
And finally, let's touch on thestructure of the shoulder joint.
(09:07):
The shoulder joint is naturallya more shallow joint than the
hip joint, which makes it moremobile and more prone to injury.
Some people have naturally moremobile shoulder joints, which
allows for more overhead armmovements, for example, in
downward facing dog.
However, again, I caution youthat this joint can be unstable
(09:33):
and we should not be forcingextreme movements, especially in
weight-bearing poses.
Some students may experiencebony limitations that make
raising their arms overhead,uncomfortable, or restricted.
Again, you would not know thisfor sure unless you looked at
their x-rays.
(09:53):
However, there are some armmovements that you can practice
with them and see where theynaturally stop.
That might be an indicator thatthey have a skeletal
restriction, which will limitmore movement.
here's the takeaway.
Instead of telling students thatoppose must look a certain way,
offer variations, encourage yourstudents to explore what works
(10:17):
for their bodies.
Some students might need a widerstance, a different hand
position, or props.
and resist, assuming that lackof flexibility is the issue.
If a student is struggling in apose, it could be their bone
structure, and not tightmuscles.
(10:38):
Now let's shift and discussstudents' personal preference
because this is a big deal.
As teachers, we should hold thebelief that alignment is a
personal matter.
What works for one student maynot be safe.
Functional or accessible foranother.
Instead of trying to fitstudents into rigid alignment
(11:00):
models, we should help studentsexplore and decide what
alignment works best for theirown unique bodies.
It should be taught as apersonal decision because like I
mentioned before, skeletalvariations matter differences in
joint shape, bone length, andspinal curves Affect how oppose
(11:21):
feels and functions for eachstudent.
If you find that a studentstruggles in a pose, it might
not be about their flexibilityor how strong or tolerant they
are.
It could be simply their bonelength and or how their bones
fit together.
Okay.
Secondly, what if a student hastheir own personal goals and
(11:43):
intentions for their practice?
Some students practice yoga formovement while others focus on
strength, stress relief, orinjury recovery.
The best alignment depends onwhat they need and what they
want from their practice, whichalso means they need to seek
teachers that can give them whatthey want.
(12:05):
Third, a student's pain andinjury history plays a huge role
in their practice.
A student with a history of backpain or knee issues may need a
different stance, A differentkind of prop support or even
another pose variation thansomeone without those concerns.
(12:28):
It's our job to help studentsmodify their alignment based on
their comfort and functionrather than fitting them into an
aesthetic idea, Since I've hadhamstring injuries on my left
leg, my warrior too looksdifferent on the left side than
it does on the right.
It continues to feel differentside to side for me as well.
(12:52):
So if a teacher would've askedme to go deeper on the left
side, I wouldn't really wanna dothat because of my own personal
injury history.
Finally, there's movement,preferences, and comfort.
Some students feel better in aslightly different alignment
than the textbook version of apose.
(13:13):
For example, in Warrior One,some students will naturally
turn their back foot out morebecause of how their hip joint
is structured.
Forcing them into a narrowerstance could create unnecessary
sensation or strain.
I could go on for days aboutalignment rules in Warrior One
(13:34):
from the length, width, and footpositioning of the stance to the
hips spine, where the shouldersface overhead, arm positioning
to the gaze.
Warrior one is a lot.
And I used to hate this posebecause I was being taught
specific alignment rules Andsimultaneously being told that
(13:56):
if I hated it, it meant I neededto practice it more.
That's a whole entire rabbithole that we could go down.
We should be giving studentspermission to position their
bodies in ways that feel rightfor them.
I have so many examples of thisin my body and in students'
(14:16):
bodies.
I could go on and on.
If there's a specific pose thatyou feel like you wanna give
students some leeway in butdon't know how, send me a
message.
Let me know which one, and I cantalk you through it.
Instead of trying to adjuststudents to fit a specific pose,
(14:37):
think of alignment as aconversation, not a command.
Resist assuming that there is anideal alignment for everyone.
Students already feel pressuredto look a certain way, poses,
but we can teach them to listento their own bodies and
encourage students to explorewhat feels best for them.
(14:59):
Instead of saying the correctalignment for this pose is try
saying, pause here and explorewhat alignment feels best for
your body right now.
or instead of saying, your feetmust always be hip with distance
apart.
Try saying.
Try a few different footplacements and notice what feels
(15:22):
the most stable for you.
The main takeaway from thisepisode is to help you to
encourage students to listen totheir bodies and make alignment
choices based on what feelssafe, stable, and functional,
rather than what looks.
Correct.
Our bodies are different whetherit's because of skeletal
(15:42):
variations or personalpreference, and students should
be given the freedom to practicein a way that feels safe and
supportive for their bodies, notfollowing an arbitrary alignment
rule or a picture in a book.
Remember, alignment is personaland your cues should be
(16:03):
exploratory and encouraging.
In next week's episode, we'lldive into strength versus
flexibility, nervous systemresponses, and injury
prevention.
If you leave knowing this,students' bodies are different,
and we should celebrate all ofthe differences we see then I
(16:25):
think I've done my job on thisepisode.
what do you think about queuingalignment?
Have you ever told a student tojust keep practicing and one day
you'll get it?
Have you ever asked a student tochange their alignment based on
what you think they should looklike?
I always want you to leavefeeling empowered.
(16:45):
I too have been here.
I didn't know any better, butthen I learned more about
anatomy, movement, injuries, andthe nervous system, and it
changed my teaching forever.
This is what I want for you tocontinue to learn and evolve
your teaching.
If you want a deeperunderstanding of anatomy and how
(17:06):
it might change the way youteach, you are in the right
place.
I know it might feeloverwhelming at the start, but
there are ways to makeunderstanding it a little less
complex.
I teach anatomy as it relates toteaching yoga, So you aren't
learning random bones andmuscles, but understanding how
these parts of the body areincorporated into the yoga
(17:29):
practice.
I believe with all my heart thatyoga teachers are movement
educators, and we mustunderstand the human body and
its movements in order to beeffective in our teaching.
It is so important for us tohave this conversation, and
sometimes teaching can feellonely, which is another reason
(17:51):
why I started this podcast.
So you'd have a place to go toask questions and to get
answers.
If you haven't already downloadthe ebook sequencing for
different injuries.
The link is in the show notes.
I promise you it will help forma foundation for teaching
students with injuries and agingbodies.
The information will also helpyou understand how to
(18:14):
accommodate students ofdifferent abilities, and it'll
be a great resource for you toreturn to again and again.
When you download the ebook,you'll be joining my newsletter.
That's just for yoga teachers.
I've got more exciting teachingscoming soon, so I wanna tell you
all about them.
The link is in the show notesbelow, and I would love for you
(18:34):
to join it so we can always stayconnected.
You know that my goal for you isto love the yoga teaching life
and allow it to be fulfillingand rewarding.
If you love this episode, let meknow.
I've added a link in the shownotes for you to send me a quick
text message about your thoughtson this episode.
(18:55):
I won't know your phone number.
It's just a neat addition to theplatform I use that allows for
this easy way for you tocommunicate with me.
Once you click on it, it willtake you to your messages, but
don't delete the code.
That's how your message will getto me, and I would love to know
your thoughts.
Subscribe to the podcast soyou're always in the know when a
(19:16):
new episode drops and share itwith another yoga teacher who
you think would love to be in onthese conversations.
Thank you for helping to spreadthe word about this podcast and
if you've been taking notes inyour journal as you listen to
these episodes, I'm so glad youare and I'd love to hear about
it.
Alright, that's it for now.
(19:37):
Bye.
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