Practising Yoga A to Z - "a" is for Alignment

So alignment is one of the key principles in a yoga practice. Why? Because you have to know your body and understand your body to be able to align it in a pose to ensure that you are practising safely.

So what is alignment? Alignment is how your body moves and appears to yourself and others as you practice an asana pose.

So why are there two viewpoints - ie yourself and others ? You will always see your practice differently to how your teacher and others in the class will. You might see your arms straight, but your teacher might see that you favour one side, one arm may be higher than the other etc. While your teacher can look at your alignment and see signs that the body is different on each side, you on the other hand might not see it at all. This is likely to be something that you are not even aware of, not concious of.

While many teachers will instruct students on how to move a persons body into the perfect pose, I prefer to instruct yoga as a way to understand how your body is and how unique you are and how unique your yoga practice must be to be true to yourself. I prefer to guide you through the asana in a way that enables you to work safely, surely and in a way your body will thank you for later. You must gain strength to practice a strong alignment, and you must gain strength before you can move deeper into a pose with greater flexibility. Like a fine cheese or wine, it all takes time to mature, deepen and truly understand the complexity in the practice.