What do you teach, if not alignment?

Last year, while guest teaching at a local yoga teacher training, one of the students asked me the best question, “What do you teach if not alignment.” The question came after a lengthy discussion about how the body adapts to the positions and loads we spend the most time in. That there is no good movement or bad movement, just movement that our body is either prepared to handle or not. No amount of alignment will help you do chaturanga if you rarely practice push-ups and your max rep is two. I know this can be hard to imagine given how much traditional alignment and safety are emphasized in ashtanga vinyasa yoga, but the short answer is: LOTS. There is lots to teach.

To be clear, it’s not that I don’t teach any alignment ever - because in essence, alignment is always happening. However you are right now as you read this is an alignment. What I no longer teach is the correct-and-protect style of alignment that you often see in studios. Alignment that is based on visual aesthetics, right/wrong rules, and alignment that warns people that their safety depends on the placement of their limbs. Alignment is a useful tool, it’s just not the main tool.

The message is getting around and maybe you’ve heard that traditional yoga alignment could use an update, but then there isn’t much follow up on what to teach or how to cue if we’re not emphasizing alignment rules. I’m here to share that with you. Words matter. Something that is traditional means long established and habitually done, but that doesn’t mean it’s better , more accurate or precious.

To get you started, first consider where the alignement rules and cues you use came from. Where did you learn them? Where did they come from before that? Who were they meant for? What time period and culture were they influenced by? Have they changed at all since ever? Ok, tired of hearing yourself say the same prescriptive alignment cues? Want to empower the people in your classes with more ways to move?

Here are five ways to cue your yoga classes beyond one-way alignment.

1. Teach people to not fight their body. People. Fight. Their. Body. Every. Single. Day. Instead of using cues that aim to fix or correct their every metatarsal try out some language that allows people to be just as they are. So what if their W2 isn't yoga journal cover ready. Remind folks that they don't have to crank or push themselves into a deeper more advanced version of a pose for it to be deemed right or useful. Practice not fixing based purely on the visual aesthetic. Here are five things I heard myself say this week in one of my group strength classes: It does not have to be pretty. No suffering. This is hard. Root for yourself. Take rest when you need it.

2. Cue your yoga Classes in a way that invites people to find their own signature shape (alignment). Use open ended questions. Can you reach your arm overhead in half moon pose? What would it feel like if____ ?Give options not dares. Invite people into a pose. Let's use a seated pose as an example. Any will do: bound angle, wide angle or cross-legged seat. Instead of telling people to fold forward, try fostering inquiry and curiosity by saying, see if you need a forward fold here or not. If you have plenty of stretch and sensation happening in the upright version, then you may not need to fold forward - you're already doing the pose. This is one small way to flip prescriptive alignment narrative. Yoga Teacher, Colin Hall notes that variation is natural. In many ways, every pose is already a variation by virtue of the fact that each of us is unique. Not only our size and shape, but our proportions and our mood. Our age, our life experiences, our worries and stresses, and preferences all influence how the postures look.

3. Highlight mobility. Invite movement variety/variability. If you want to move away from the overemphasis on deep passive holds, try movement. Mobility = mo' ability. Movement variability is like a Swiss army knife you can call on when needed during a movement task. Pleasing visual alignment and square hips aren’t going to save your ass if you lose your balance. Teaching mobility is also a great way to foster curiosity about movement options and it deemphasizes that one right way thinking. Instagram is a treasure trove of mobility moves that will fit right into a yoga asana class. One of my favorites are teacup drills. If you know, you know.

4. Find beauty in the breakdown. People love a good breakdown. Pick a pose, deconstruct it. Make it all the way, every way accessible. Build on ramps and exit ramps - ways for people to get into and out of the pose on their terms. It takes the pressure off (of you and them) because we’re in it together. When people are given permission to explore this way you also empower them to find their own signature alignment (see #1 above, yes it's all connected).

5. Remove a correct-and-protect alignment cue (or 2) and let the silence do the heavy lifting. You don't have to replace every old cue with a new one. Let the silence do the heavy lifting. The words you do say will be better received than if you're one long run-on sentence. Remember everyone is having their own inner experience. Hold the moment, ask them if they're breathing, move on.

The pose is you. You are the asana. And you cannot do yourself incorrectly. You are doing it right.

- Colin Hall

Check out my book list for more on alignment and to connect with some of the resources I use to inform my teaching.