Why Alignment Matters in Yoga?

I've been to a few yoga classes where I have heard the teacher suggest that we "do whatever feels good for our bodies," and I have to scratch my  head on that one.  What feels good is mostly savasana, mild to zero engagement, napping, eating chocolate, sleeping in, you get my point here!  What my body needs to do and what it wants to do are 2 separate things.  This leads me to what John Friend calls the two main reasons for doing yoga.  The first is to have a recognition of our divine nature and secondly to experience the highest forms of delight.  Is that going to happen to me if I roll around on the floor, while rounding my spine?  I think not and this is why alignment matters!

 Yoga is a science that teaches you how to align your body/mind with a higher intention.  The physical body has a very specific anatomical blueprint, John calls this the optimal blueprint, that is the most idea position for the body.  Who cares?  Well if you have any kind of injury yoga can really mess you up if your alignment is not precise and refined but yoga done with really good alignment is called "therapy" and that equals healing and happiness when things don't hurt anymore. 

Here's the kicker, this alignment is actually really tough to get and then maintain.  It is so much easier to collapse and let go then to hold asana with steadfast awareness and killer alignment.  Let your body be your guide!  If you are getting hurt from your yoga practice that should be sending a red flag high into the cosmic clouds and then it's time to consider perhaps a different style of yoga.

I've been practicing yoga for only 8 short but very intense years and I used to get hurt all the time on account of my disengaged muscles, collapsing armpits, internally rotating upper arm bones, hyper extended knees, and my finger pads continually lifting off the ground while fully weight bearing.  Since then I have been blessed to have found and fallen in love with Anusara yoga.  Since that day, those old habits, yes I found it very difficult to break my old collapsing ways, are long gone and what I get from this precise alignment is a practice that continues to expand, without injury and a tremendous amount of joy! 

I learned how to engage, expand and align every bone and muscle in my body through my amazing teachers!  My deepest gratitude to these very skilled, compassionate, loving and super supportive Anusara teachers!  John Friend, Todd Norian, Ann Greene, Sianna Sherman, Desiree Rumbaugh, Shraddha,  Noah Maze & Amy Ippoliti, all my love!

These teachers have taught me not only how to align my physical body but how to align my heart with a deep remembrance of what a gift life, embodiment and consciousness truly are!

Yoga is so much more than a streching class!

Yoga's popularity has increased world world. Even in my community many new studios have opened up, there are lots of options and styles available to anyone or any age or fitness level that wants to start. Let me set your mind straight before you head out, yoga is not just a stretching class, in fact according to John Friend, founder of the globally recognized style of Hatha Yoga, called Anusara, stretching comes after 4 other steps!

On a physical level stretching your muscles are great, it's natural, just watch your dog in the morning when you say "wanna go for a walk" to see what happens. However, on a bio mechanical level just stretching or hanging can be dangerous for your body. In yoga, poses are an offering of your heart not just something where you organize your muscles and bones into a specific arrangement. What goes on in the inside of a pose is where the juicy stuff is and what separates some of the styles of yoga into purely physical or opportunities into a deeper understanding of your true nature.

Yoga will make your muscles strong so they can support your skeleton, with guidance this can lead to a feeling of safety and support in this world. When your muscles also get more flexible, you may find yourself becoming more open to new possibilities not just new poses. Yoga can bring people together in community and at the same time can honour what makes you special.

Beyond stretching yoga's reach is vast and deep, for me the grip of addiction in it's many forms strangling me for years, began to loose it's power as mine increased. Bad habits start dropping like the well formed icicles outside my kitchen window for months, solid, steadfast with some light, some heat they melt and then I can see clearly out my window again.

Contemplate deeply what yoga does for you! How it has impacted your life, your mind, your body and your heart. Get out to classes, regularly, that makes a big difference. Yoga once a week is fine but if you can get another class or 2 you this moments of clarity will expand.

Mindy Willis is an Anusara Inspired Yoga Teacher, living in London, Ontario.

Green Juice

Just over 3 weeks ago I gave my body and my cupboards a major clean-up! I started to make green juices, almost every day. I have been having 2 of these juices until noon then some yummy vegan eats. The juice is made from 1 cucumber, 5 leaves of romaine lettuce, 1 lemon, 2 green apples, 1 pear, 4 kale leaves, 1/2 bag of celery, ginger, then I add 2 ginseng and a hint of agave nectar. I have cut out almost 100% of the gluten from my diet and I can honestly say I haven't felt this good for many years, health wise.

I've been a vegetarian for over 17 years now but my diet needed a lot of help. This time the help came in the form of a book, by Kriss Carr, My Crazy Sexy Diet. I highly recommend this book, it is so informational and inspiring. For many years of my life I suffered from a horrible eating disorder that ruled my life and it all started to change when I began yoga. Yoga helped so much, I just stopped throwing up everything I ate and for the first time in my life genuinely cared about my bod!

Although, I think I ate healthier than most, I knew I could do better. My wee Starbucks addiction, an innocent Soy Chai Tea Latte and a molasses cookie 2 times a week was unhealthy and I knew it. That latte has as much sugar in it as a pop does, so don't kid yourself if you have fallen into the chai tea trap too. Other than that my busy lifestyle made it hard to prepare and I realize now that eating the best, freshest and healthiest food is expensive, a lot of work, both preparing and prepping but it 100% worth it in the end.

Make a change today whether it is cutting out those chai lattes, coffee, too much alcohol, gluten, soy, eggs, dairy or meat. I know that you will feel so much better in only a few weeks. Plus your bod will love you for it by dropping extra pounds around the belly, thighs, backs of the arms and rear end! Kriss Carr recommends doing this with a buddy for inspiration and motivation. Whatever floats your boat, just get it in the water first by cleaning out your cupboards and replacing what is in them with whole foods. Throw out anything that is white, refined or processed. Your doing yourself a favour in the end!

om peace