CURVY YOGA EXPLORATION CURVY ALIGNMENT FROM THE GROUND UP

CURVY YOGA EXPLORATION CURVY ALIGNMENT FROM THE GROUND UP

Curvy Alignment from the Ground Up Curvy alignment is an art. I don t say that to be cute but rather because I think it s particularly true. Many of us have done teacher training, read yoga books, looked at yoga alignment online, etc. And the vast majority of the time, those images show poses on thin bodies. When we base our alignment cues solely on the shape or look of a pose, we get an idea of how poses should look based on these images. But when curvy folks walk in the door, their pose may not match up with the image in our head. But that doesn t mean they re not aligned. I encourage you to approach alignment from the inside out -- helping your students to feel the alignment in their body while also using your own eye for alignment to offer helpful adjustments -- whether verbal or physical. Please keep in mind that the list below includes common issues that come up for curvy people. This does not mean that every curvy person will experience this or that they won t have other issues. Instead, consider this more like a starting point -- issues for you to keep in mind. You ll continue to build on this list over time based on your experiences teaching the unique students who will come to your classes. Curvy Yoga www.curvyyoga.com 1

In addition, these are tips for things you can look for during class. Of course, you should always refer students to their doctor and/or physical therapist for any undiagnosed pain or other issues. Feet Flat feet (or collapsed arches): this can cause students to stand/walk on the insides of their feet. Teaching students to create a triangle of support in their feet (pressing down under the ball of the big toe, ball of the pinky toe and the center of the heel) will help to prevent this from happening during class. You can encourage students to bring awareness to this when they are outside of class, too. Heel spurs: Depending on how your student walks, he/she may develop heel spurs. A heel spur is a bony growth on a normal bone that can cause pain. This issue often co-presents with Plantar Fasciitis. If your student experiences pain while standing, consider offering them one or more extra mats for some cushioning. You could also work with this student in a chair. Encourage them to take a shorter stance when in poses like Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Side Angle Pose and Triangle. A shorter stance may be easier to maintain and give them the opportunity to work with the poses and build up the strength/comfort of their feet. Swollen feet: Some people may experience swelling in their feet or ankles. If this is the case, ask the student how their feet/ankles feel. If they experience pain, consider some of the suggestions above. If they do not experience pain, encourage them to practice with awareness of their feet. You might add Legs-Up-the-Wall to your sequence to reduce a little swelling. One foot turning out: Whether due to the issues above, an old injury, or something else, people can develop a condition where one (or sometimes both) of their feet turns out. Although you can see this with your eyes, they often don t feel it in their body. They ve developed such a pattern with this foot that their proprioception tells them that it is straight. This can refer right up the body -- throwing the ankle, knee, hip and even shoulder out of whack. If a student approaches you with knee issues, consider looking at how they stand and walk. If you notice one foot turning out, you can bring their attention to that and, to use the experiment analogy again, ask them to try to bring some awareness to it during their week. Balancing poses using the wall can be useful to feel the foot in alignment and start to rebuild the strength of the ankle in alignment. Ankles Weak ankles: Sometimes related to the foot issues above (and sometimes existing separately), the ankles can become weak and/or not aligned. For example, if the foot is collapsed, the ankle may roll in a bit. Grounding the feet as described above is helpful for this. Also encourage students to plant their feet firmly when stepping into/out of poses like the Warrior poses. Another great option is to encourage students to be mindful of their transitions. For example, when stepping the feet together Curvy Yoga www.curvyyoga.com 2

from a wide stance as in Warrior 2. More often than not, it s these transitions where students are paying less attention that an injury may occur. Knees Crunching/pain when moving: By far the number one bodily complaint my students have is their knees. When I hear this from a new student, I ask them when they experience the pain (walking, stairs, getting up from seated, etc.). Oftentimes, they are not completely sure. Regardless, this is a nice opportunity to encourage your students to approach this like a science experiment. Ask them to notice how their knee feels during the class and report back to you afterward. o o When moving into Warrior 1, Warrior 2 or Side Angle poses, I rarely go straight into a bent knee. Instead, I ask students to move slowly into the pose on their breath. For example: Inhale, bend your knee. Exhale, straighten your leg. I then ask them to repeat that a few times following their own breath. On the 3rd or 4th time through, I ll ask them to hold through the bent knee. The body does not like to move on sharp lines, so I find that using dynamic movement allows the body to ease into a pose. It also helps students find where it would be best for them to be holding because they re feeling it first and not just guessing how far down they should go. Instead of instructing your students to bend their knee in these poses, consider asking them to descend their thigh instead. Try it yourself: stand in Warrior 1 stance and bend/straighten your leg as above. Feel where the movement originates (in my body, and many of my students, this feels like it s coming from the knee). Then try again, this time descending your thigh. Your knee will automatically bend when you send your thigh down, but feel where this movement originates as compared to when you bent your knee (for me, it feels like it s starting in the thigh, which takes a little pressure off the knee). Pain when standing on knees: Many of my students cannot put much (if any) pressure on their knees. Because this is such a big concern, I do one of two things: (1) I very rarely do any poses on the knees. For example, Cat/Cow is a popular pose, but instead of just going for that, I ask myself how I can create a similar effect for my students, which leads me to (2) If I do a pose on hands/knees, I first teach a seated option that students may continue to do if they like. For example, in Sukhasana, with the hands on the knees, inhale and lift the sternum; exhale and round the back. Seated cat/cow Legs Not enough space when standing: We re often taught to teach Tadasana with feet together or, at the most, hip (points) distance apart. However, because of extra flesh (especially around the thighs) this position (especially feet together) can be uncomfortable at best and unsafe at worst. For example, in my body, if I stand with my feet together, my knees buckle out (see video for example). Curvy Yoga www.curvyyoga.com 3

Throwing my body out of alignment to conform to a narrow (literally) idea of a pose is not yoga Instead, I instruct my students to find a comfortable distance between their feet. In my opinion, there is no one cue (hip s distance apart, hip points distance apart, etc.) that will accommodate the different bodies in your class. If you instruct a comfortable distance apart, students will find what works for them. You can then help them build a safe stance from there. If you notice that there are a number of students in class whose stance is still too close, instruct everyone to take their feet mat s distance apart. Once they feel that, you can take them back to a comfortable distance later in the class, which may be easier for them to find at that point. Shape: This is rarely a problem for students, but it can be a problem for teachers. Depending on the shape/size of your students bodies, some instruction may not look right. For example, in Side Angle pose, Reach your arm over your ear and create one long line from fingertips to toes is an instruction often given. And inside the student s body, it may feel like this. But to your eye, it may not look like this. On my body, for example, it looks like more like a couple curvy lines, but that doesn t mean my bones aren t in alignment. Hips Tightness: not unlike everyone else in the West, curvy folks tend to have tight hips. The difference for you as a teacher is how you can help them open them up. For example, traditional poses like Pigeon are often inaccessible for a number of reasons (flesh compression in the legs and/or belly, pressure on knee, etc.). This is your chance to let your creativity shine Instead of the usual version of Pigeon, what about the Figure 4 opening on the wall (Legs-Up-the-Wall with R ankle crossed above/below L knee. L knee can also draw in to enhance the stretch if needed)? Or seated Pigeon (see videos)? Or Pigeon with a bolster and chair (see ebook)? Get out your detective s cap and see how you might help your students open and/or build strength in their bodies in unique ways Hands/Arms/Shoulders Pain: Of course, like many people, curvy folks can have tight shoulders. I think that s the nature of life, especially in the West. The issue I see show up most often for curvy folks is one of two things: (1) Shoulders collapsing in. Again, this is sometimes just an issue of sitting at the computer too long. But oftentimes curvy folks are socialized to collapse their bodies in on themselves -- to literally take up less space. You can sometimes pick this up from people emotionally/energetically in addition to physically. Offering students opportunities to practice a really great, open Tadasana -- encouraging them to take up space -- can be a nice way to indirectly address this without having to say something like You ve had a hard life, haven t you? :) Offer your students opportunities to be embodied and take a deep breath; that alone can be life-changing. Curvy Yoga www.curvyyoga.com 4

(2) Pressure on hands/wrists in poses like Tabletop/Down Dog. Although we rarely talk about Down Dog as an arm balance pose, it most certainly is one -- and a difficult one at that, especially for people who are new to yoga. This is why I rarely teach the traditional Down Dog, but I will work it often at the wall and with a chair (see ebook and videos) to help students experience the same benefits with good alignment. If I m working with a group over time, I can work with them in other ways to build up their alignment and strength so that we can get to Down Dog eventually. Curvy Yoga www.curvyyoga.com 5