Liberated Yoga
Yoga is for everyone!
Topic: Alignment
Yoga Alignment: Neutral Pelvis
Neutral Pelvis is one of the most important alignment cues in my teaching and personal practice. In previous posts we talked about the few alignment points one needs to pay attention to have a safer Yoga practice and to be more confident doing Yoga at home. We discussed neck and shoulders, and now we are moving on to the pelvis. Our daily lives and genetics predispose us to certain deviations from neutral that can contribute to tension and weakness of the postural muscle...
When does a muscle need to be "released" and when does it need to be "stretched"?
Because muscles can be in different states, such as locked short or locked long (which means they are usually weak and dehydrated due to poor circulation), stretching a muscle that feels "tight" is not necessarily a wise thing to do as a matter of default. When muscles are out of balance due to postural and movement habits, they pull too much on some bones, not enough on others, preventing better alignment in both Yoga poses and daily life. What we want is a strong muscle, one that can both elo...
Yoga Alignment: Shoulders
In a previous post I talked about the the importance of alignment , after which we discussed neck and Jalandhara Bandha , as I think it is probably the most important one of them all. Now we are moving down the list to the shoulders. The shoulder joint has an amazing range or movement. It is probably the most mobile joint in the body. As with everything in nature, there is a trade-off - it is also less stable (as compared to the hip, joint, for example). Many Yoga poses would have us b...
Yoga Alignment: Neck
A special installment on this subject, because it is probably the single most important alignment technique that will keep you safe in your poses and allow you to reap the most benefit from them. Jalandhara Bandha, or chin lock, is one of the very few alignment instructions passed down to us from the ancient Yogis. There are no instructions on where to put your feet, how to line up your knee with the second toe, etc. But neck alignment and Jalandhara Bandha get a lot of attention, and for goo...
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Yoga Alignment: Eight Tips You Need to Know
I often hear from my Yoga students that they are reluctant to practice at home by themselves because they are afraid they'd do something wrong or in poor alignment. With this blog I aim to dispel some of the mysteries of alignment and to help those of you, who are willing, to relax with Yoga at home. First and foremost, what is alignment? When we place our limbs just so, arranging our body into shapes, we want to get the most benefit from the pose, yet minimize the risks, while at the same ...
