The Practice: Basic Alignment Guidelines

Guidelines for Practice from Patanjali’s yoga Sutras: Shrtire Sukham Asanam Asana (posture, seated position, physical practice) is steady (strong; steady, stable, motionless) and comfortable (ease filled, happy, light, relaxed). Performed with willingness as well as acceptance. Firm as well as pleasant. Strong as well as relaxed. Maintained with effort as well as ease. Focus on the Breath. Relax. Avoid pushing yourself or damaging the body. There are many principles of alignment in yoga asana from many traditions. Here are just a few very basic ideas to keep in mind throughout your practice: Alignment of the Physical Body: Spine Yoga asana focuses on elongating the spine and increasing its range of motion. Because Yoga is ultimately of practice of working with subtle energies, maintaining alignment and length in the Spine is of the utmost importance in yoga asana alignment. Hands /Feet: Our foundation We begin by setting up and aligning the foundation of the poses. Spread your hands / feet wide to create the most stable foundation possible to support our being, plant down through the 4 corners of your hands and feet, especially the big toes, then draw the energy in and up through the body though the domes or “nostrils” of the hands and feet. Mantra: Spread out. Plant Down. Draw in. Soft Elbows / Knees – There are no straight lines in nature and thus considering we are a creation of nature, this goes for our bodies as well. We can always maintain softness in these joints, ensuring that we are not hyper-extending, as this compromises the integrity of alignment in the pose. Teachers will often remind us to “micro-bend” or to have soft elbows and knees as this helps us to yield into the earth or whatever surface we are upon.

Actively yielding to the Earth creates a rebound effect, elongating the body upwards into space. Shoulders / Hips – These are the gateways for the arms and legs to connect with the torso, and two common areas in which we commonly experience tension in the body. When the shoulders are hugging the ears, the body is being sent messages of stress! So think about relaxing and softening the shoulder, rolling your shoulders away from your ears creating as much space as possible in the neck. Keep the hips level, ensuring that their height is equalized. Neutralize Pelvic tilt – Think of the pelvis as a bowl filled with water. In standing and balancing positions, we want to keep the bowl level so that we arenot tipping forward and hyper arching our low back, spilling the water out the front, or tilting it too far up, as is common in people with tight hips doing seated postures, spilling the water out the back. Make sure the hips and pelvis are level. If you find your low back rounding and your pelvis tipping up, then help yourself to a cushion or two or three so that you can be aligned and comfortable. We also want to make sure we neutralize the front to back placement of the hips so that it rests just atop the legs. Neck and head - In most active styles of yoga asana, the general principle is to keep the head and neck long and in line with the spine, bringing the chin back in if are heads are jutting forward. I know a body worker who tells his clients: “Take the head away from the computer!”. Soft Face & Eyes – Make sure your eyes are soft, your jaw is relaxed and soft, and your face is nice and released. Having a soft controlled gaze or focus, or Drishti, helps us to develop concentration, and focused consciousness to see the world as it is. When we are beginning our practice of yoga, we often lose balance by looking around and paying attention to all of the stimulation and distraction outside of ourselves. Focusing the attention inwards, by holding a soft gaze point either to our 3rd eye or our hearts, encourage stability and inward looking. Tips for Transitioning between Poses in Alignment: • Connect and synchronize movements with the breath • Breathe into the back body while transitioning • Move with steady graceful flowing rhythm • Maintain steady moment to moment awareness • Take your time and move from stability and integration first • Activate stability before active expansion • Adjust alignment of back leg first, then front leg

Asana & the Breath

Inhale

When…

• Opening, unfolding, expanding outer body

• Lengthening and opening the spine

• Opening the arms to the sides or overhear

• Coming out of forward folds of lateral standing poses

• Going up into a pose against gravity – bringing lightness to a pose 

Exhale

When…

• Closing, unfolding, or flexing the outer body

• Bringing the arms to the midline

• Going into forward folds of lateral bends

• Releasing down with gravity • Twisting

Develop a Successful Home Yoga Practice

One of the most beautiful and liberating aspects of yoga is that you don’t need any fancy equipment or a designated building or field to practice. Yoga is accessible. The practice meets you where you are – as long as you are willing to approach it. Developing a home yoga practice and committing to it is a profound tool for deepening into your own personal relationship with yoga. Here are some tools that have helped me in my home practice of Yoga: 1. Create a foundation for your practice with a set sequence. Practicing the same poses every day repeatedly is a powerful way to keep consistent with your practice. This repetition offers you a clear vantage point from which to watch yourself grow and change. The nature and sequencing of Ashtanga Yoga offers this beautifully. You don’t have to think about what pose you want to do next, so instead you can focus on your breath and drishti, or focus point. This takes you into a deeper meditative and focused place, so that you will step off your mat feeling more present and peaceful. 2. Require a minimum of practice for yourself each day. Even if it’s just 15 minutes, make yourself a promise that you will do your 15 minutes. That’s your practice - just that - everything else is bonus time! Start small (baby steps!); this way you can stick with your commitment and feel positive about your practice rather than guilty if you don’t have a lot of time/energy that day. 3. Prioritize and sanctify your practice. Make a specific spot in your home/hotel/dorm room that is specifically reserved for your practice. When you roll out your mat, you are in your own little yoga studio, so be there! Don’t roll it out and then walk away and get on Facebook (guilty – I’ve done that – it does not benefit your practice!). Creating a small altar or having a special picture, token or candle there to mark this as a sacred space for intentional practice will help you. When you practice, make practice your sole focus. Turn off the phone, music and computer.

Honor your practice time as sacred and important. Make boundaries around yourself for your practice time. If you are in a house with other people, you will need to gracefully practice conscious communication with them in order to protect your uninterrupted practice time and space. 4. Take the time to sit and be still. Always include time in your practice just to BE – to breathe and to be present with yourself. Perhaps picking a gentle pranayama practice will help you, or mantra meditation or japa. Finding stillness in your practice will make you feel very nourished and peaceful, and this will then make you want to practice with more consistency and devotion! Just three minutes of conscious deep breathing can work wonders! Practicing meditation will benefit your asana practice, because it will help you build your powers of concentration. The inverse is true as well; practicing asana, especially with an intense focus on controlling prana through drishti, bandhas and breath, will make you a better meditator. 5. Invert! Go upside down every day! Shoulder-stand, headstand and viparita karani are all fantastic practices. There are so many wonderful health benefits from inverting. Plus, it’s a great way to clear your head and get a new perspective on things. I always feel happier and better about life after a few minutes of hanging out upside down. 6. Go in for regular tune-ups. Occasionally, give yourself the treat of working with a great teacher. Go in for a few classes or a workshop. This will help bring attention to areas of your practice that needassistance, and it will also provide you with new inspiration and motivation for your daily home practice. 7. Use the resources around you well. If you are feeling a little stuck all by yourself, look around for some help and a break in the routine. Find a local donation-based community yoga class to attend occasionally. Learn from reading blogs and yoga websites, or even take an online yoga class if that’s what is most available to you