Hello lovely friends!
I want to talk to y’all about alignment. No matter where you are in your yoga practice, alignment is a key factor in building strength, increasing flexibility, and keeping you safe! The smallest adjustments/modifications in simple poses, some that we think we have nailed, can fix commonly overlooked errors and take your practice to the next level.
It is so incredibly important to pay attention to alignment in basic yoga poses because they serve as a foundation to the more difficult poses. Having the correct alignment helps maximize the benefits of each pose and reduces the risk of injury.
We will dive into the following five basic yoga poses that every level yogi can incorporate into their practice. 🙂
Downward Dog
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Down dog is an incredibly common pose that also has incredibly common misalignments… it’s also a pose that most of us have a love-hate relationship with. For the more advanced yogis, downward dog is a resting pose that creates space in the spine, especially the lumbar (lower) spine and a beautiful stretch along the backs of the legs.
For the newer yogis, downward dog feels like more of a strengthening pose for the shoulders and arms, plus it feels impossible to get your legs straight and your heels on the ground!
A common misconception is that the legs need to be straight in the post, unfortunately that is totally not feasible for most of us! Our hamstrings tend to be super tight which means which causes us to compensate and round the back. The reason being, most of our hamstrings are too tight to allow the pelvis to fully open while maintaining a straight back, the muscles in the legs pull the pelvis down which forces us into that rounded back.
Instead, bend the knees deeply and inwardly rotate the thighs to help open the pelvis. This shift of focus to the spine will create that straight line of energy from the wrists all the way to the tailbone. This is the main focus of the pose to maximize all of its juicy benefits.
Other thing to note: hunched shoulders and bowed elbows are the result of tight shoulders. Inwardly rotate the biceps and pull the shoulder blades together and away from the ears as a quick fix.
Forward Fold
Uttanasana
Forward fold is not as prone to misalignments as some other of the basic poses, but there are some small adjustments to pay attention to in order to maximize the efficiency of the pose. Foot placement can be wide, stacked under the hips, or narrow with the knees are to be slightly bent. While resting in forward fold, the tendency is to use the hands to pull the torso further into the pose and let the hips shift backwards so the majority of the weight is in the heels.
Let’s address the issue of pulling on the ankles or feet to get further into the pose first. The two main muscle groups are the hamstrings, which are large muscles, and the muscles in the low back, which are much smaller. When you pull on the ankles or shins to get deeper into the stretch it puts a lot of stress on the smaller muscles in the back instead of in the legs. Imagine a game of tug of war between the Rock and Kevin Hart, mass simply wins. So instead of grabbing your feet, grab opposite elbows and let yourself relax and hang.
The weight distribution is a quick fix, instead of letting the weight rest in the heels simply shift it to the balls of the feet at about 60% to 40%. This allows gravity to work its magic to release the tension in the low back and targets the stretch in the hamstrings.
Simple fixes: keep a microbend in the knees, shift the weight to the balls of the feet (60/40), and grab opposite elbows and hands and relax the torso.
Standing Backbend
Anuvittasana
The name “backbend” has the tendency to scare many people because of the intensity associated with it. The standing backbend is a very mild backbend, but is also prone to some misalignments. Most commonly, yogis will experience some crunchiness in the low back when trying to go too far into the backbend. The trick here is to focus on equal and opposite energy, ground down through the feet and reach up through the crown of the head/fingers; keeping that, lean back into the shoulders and press the hips forward.
The focus is to reach up, rather than trying to bend backwards, because it allows a more natural and comfortable arch of the back that creates space between the vertebrae.
Simple fixes: reach up first, then lean back into the shoulderblades. This alleviates crunchiness in the low back and creates a natural bend in the back.
Chaturanga
Chaturanga Dandasana
This pose requires a lot of strength and a lot of body awareness. Begin in a plank pose and keep the elbows close to the body as you lower until the arms are at a 90 degree bend, and hold. Many do not have the strength to hold this pose for very long (myself included) so to modify, place the knees on the ground or lower the body all the way to the floor without holding with the elbows bent.
Core engagement is very important to keep a flat back while lowering and holding this pose, take special notice to have a slight tuck in the tailbone and draw the navel to the spine.
Simple fixes: keep elbows close to the body and engage the core. This prevents sagging hips and banana back. Come to the knees instead of toes and to lower all the way to the ground rather than hold at a 90 degree bend in the elbows.
Chair Pose
Utkatasana
We’ve all done this guy before, and if your yoga teacher has made you hold it you know just how much it can burn! With chair pose being a strengthening pose, it is incredibly important to have the proper alignment so we are working the muscles in the best way. A few things to note about this pose are the knees and the back; the common misalignments are the knees bent past the toes and pelvis tilts open which results in an overarched back.
Similarly to forward fold (Uttanasana), we want to pay attention to where the weight falls in our feet. Chair pose has the majority of the weight in the heels because the hips need to be shifted back in order to avoid the knees going over the toes. Sinking back into the hips will help to shift the knees back over the feet, when you glance down you want to see the toes peeking out from under the knees.
To avoid crunchiness in the back, slightly tuck the pelvis. This small adjustment will naturally correct the spine to the natural curve of the pose than the crunchy banana back.
Simple fixes: Shift weight to heels, lift the pelvic bone to correct arch in lower back, and be able to see toes over knees.
As you go through each of these poses in your practice, try to consistently be aware of your alignment and tendencies in each pose and integrate these adjustments . As the adjustments become more natural in your practice, notice how this new alignment impacts your overall experience.
Thank you for taking the time to learn a bit more about yoga, as always I hope this was helpful and make sure to reach out with any questions and comments!
Be blessed loves,
Kelsey Ann