Ep 68: The Problem w/ Rigid Alignment Cues - Part 1

Traditionally, alignment was taught as a set of fixed, universal principles—certain cues, angles, and posture requirements that were considered "correct" for all bodies. However, modern discussions, influenced by movement science, biomechanics, and inclusivity, now emphasize functional movement, individual variation, and nervous system safety over rigid alignment rules.

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, today we’re exploring how alignment can be personalized, empowering, and adaptable rather than rigid or fear-based.

In this episode, I’m going to focus on two perspectives that we once had but are moving away from, thank goodness! 

They are: alignment is one-size-fits-all and fear-based cues. 

Transcript

Monica: 0:00

The alignment conversation. This is a big one with many different beliefs around it. I wanna begin to tackle it, but to do that, I want to be mindful of your time and how you receive information. If I were to cram all of my thoughts into this one episode, it might go on quite long. You might tune out. And it may be too much information to receive at once. My career in education has taught me how to disseminate information easily and give you space to ponder it.

0:34

In this episode, I'm going to focus on two perspectives that we once had, but are moving away from. They are, alignment is one size fits all, and using fear-based cues. Welcome to the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers Podcast with me. I'm Monica Bright and I've been teaching yoga and running my yoga business for over a decade. This is the podcast for you. If you are a yoga teacher, you're looking for support. You love to be in conversation, and you're a lifelong student. In this podcast, I'll share with you. My life as a yoga teacher, the lessons I've learned, my process for building my business and helpful ideas, tools, strategies and systems I use and you can use so that your business thrives. We'll cover a diverse range of topics that will help you, whether you're just starting out or you've got years under your belt and you wanna dive deep and set yourself up for success. I am so glad you're here. Listen, I don't take myself too seriously, so expect to hear some laughs along the way. Now let's do this together. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Monica, and I'm so glad you're here. You know, I love having conversations around anatomy, pain, injuries, the nervous system, and how these affect your sequencing. In my continuing education, I found that these different conversations were not being tied together. Meaning if I wanted to learn more about anatomy, I was just learning anatomy. It wasn't. Being practically applied to yoga, I had to put those pieces together myself. And while I was doing that, I started diving into certain subjects, one being alignment and why we're so rigid when it comes to it. I know a big part is safety, right? We want to keep our students safe first and foremost, but then I started asking myself the question, is our understanding of correct alignment safe for all students? That took me down a deep rabbit hole question. I. Do you believe the conversation around alignment in yoga has evolved significantly over the years? Well, traditionally, alignment was taught as a set of fixed universal principles, certain cues, angles, and posture requirements that were considered. Correct for all bodies. However, modern discussions influenced by movement, science, biomechanics, and inclusivity now emphasize functional movement, individual variation, and nervous system safety over rigid alignment. Rules instead of a one size fits all approach. Today we're exploring how alignment can be personalized, empowering, and adaptable rather than rigid or fear-based. In this episode, I'm going to focus on two perspectives that we once had but are moving away from. Those are alignment is one size fits all, and fear-based cues. I do believe we taught this way in good faith. We thought that we must teach students how to do the pose correctly based on the visuals we saw or what we were once taught. If you have the book Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar, which by many is considered the book to have some yoga teacher trainings, even include this book in their required reading list. I do believe this book does offer some value. However, if you're sticking to these rigid alignment rules, you may want to reconsider. First, let's talk about why one size fits all alignment. Belief is problematic. In the past, we believe that alignment was a universal formula. There was a right way to do each pose. For example, the knee must be stacked over the ankle in Warrior two. But this isn't attainable for many yoga students. Like I mentioned before, the goal was either to match textbook images of poses or reteach what we had learned in the past. Now we realize a few things. Number one, bodies are different. Not everyone will or should look the same in a pose. Number two, alignment should be functional, meaning it supports the individual's movement needs rather than forcing a specific aesthetic. And number three, you are now encouraged to offer variations based on body structure, range of motion, and joint function, as opposed to offering strict alignment cues. We know that there is no universal perfect alignment. Only alignment that works for each person's unique body. One size fits all. Alignment doesn't work because bodies are different. Students have different goals, and students have various movement and injury histories in their bodies. Let's talk about how you can shift towards a more individualized approach in your alignment. Queuing. Number one, you can offer modifications for different body types. Encourage your students to adjust poses based on their structure, strength, and comfort. Level number two, teach students to experiment with different stances and positions. For example, in downward facing dog, some students feel more stable with bent knees rather than forcing straight legs. Some students enjoy a wider hand placement than shoulder width than others, so give them a chance to play around with what feels best in their bodies. Then consider number three, teaching alignment as a spectrum, not a strict rule. Instead of saying, your knee must be at exactly 90 degrees in Warrior two, say, play around with the amount of bin you take and find what feels strong and steady for you Or as opposed to saying, square your hips towards the left side of the room in Warrior two say, turn your hips as much as it feels good on your front knee. You see how I'm not making the student feel as though they must follow my alignment rules. Instead, I'm asking them to find what feels right for them and to practice their alignment in that way. I would suggest that if you notice a student practicing a particular alignment, that might look problematic to you to not immediately try to correct that, but instead have a conversation with the student. Ask them how it feels, and ask them to notice over time how it continues to feel. Okay. Just because it looks problematic to you does not necessarily mean that it's potentially injurious to them, and you should give them that freedom to move and explore when you teach, try to make the poses adaptable, explorative, and personalized. Let's talk about fear-based alignment cues. Again, I think we were using these cues because we believed they were helpful, but sometimes we were using them because we heard another teacher use them and added them to our teaching without really understanding whether or not they were valid. Some fear-based language has included the following. Have you used any of these? And don't worry, I'm not calling you out. I'm guilty of using these same cues as well, okay? The first is never let your knee go past your toes in a lunge or in warrior pose because you'll hurt your knee allowing the need to move past the toes is completely natural. I mean, you do it in movements like squats or even walking upstairs. A better approach is to say, let's focus on engaging the musculature in the front leg. Notice how it feels, and adjust the bend in your knee so that it feels right for you. Okay. Have you ever queued to always keep a flat back in, forward folds to protect your spine? Well, your spine is designed to flex, extend, and move in different ways, so rounding. Isn't inherently dangerous. Instead, you could say, if rounding your back feels good, allow it. If it creates discomfort, try a different variation. I was in a class recently and the teacher said, if you don't do this, pose the right way, you'll create long-term imbalances. And I just thought to myself, oh, that's interesting. I wonder how the truth is. Your body is resilient. One, alignment choice in yoga isn't going to cause imbalances or dysfunction long term. I think if you wanted to use this type of language, a better approach might be to say, because our bodies adapt over time. Let's explore another version of this pose, which might feel more balanced and sustainable for you. We know now that cues like flex your ankle to protect your knee or pull your navel to your spine to engage your core are outdated. Remember, your body is resilient and most movements are not inherently dangerous. Instead of scaring students into rigid alignment, be encouraged to educate your students on mindful movement and body awareness. That means you have to be educated on human movement. also alignment largely depends on student readiness. Do they strength train? Do they practice mobility exercises? I'm talking specifically about joint control here. What's their movement diet like outside of yoga class? All of these factor into what their yoga practice will look and feel like, which is why teaching group classes or all levels yoga classes can be challenging. How can you move away from fear-based alignment cues? Well, that's a great question. You may be doing this unintentionally, but. Instead of making students afraid of doing poses wrong, help them move safely by building awareness, strength, and adaptability. Use neutral exploratory language instead of rigid instructions. Encourage students to explore what works for them. For example, say, try this variation and notice how your body responds. Focus on strength and stability, not just perfect form. A student in a pose that looks misaligned to you but has strong muscle engagement and control of their joints is often safer than a student forcing a perfect pose while unstable and teach adaptability and variations instead of saying oppose has one correct alignment. Show multiple variations so students can find what works for them. Fear-based cues create anxiety and hesitation in movement, which can actually increase nervous system upregulation and lead to students not trusting themselves and what movements or alignment is right for them. All you should do is use encouraging and adaptable language. This shift makes the yoga practice more inclusive, adaptable, and truly beneficial for all students regardless of their body type, their injury, history, or movement ability. Remember, alignment is personal. Not one size fits all. And fear-based cues should be replaced with encouraging exploratory language. And next week's episode, we'll dive into why personal preference And skeletal variations matter. If you leave knowing this students' bodies are different and we should celebrate that, then I think I've done my job on this episode. So what do you think? I would love to know, are you currently rigid on alignment queuing? Do you use the same cues in every pose for every student in every class? Have you used fear-based queuing? I want you to leave feeling empowered. Like I mentioned before, I've used these cues. I didn't know any better, but then I learned more about anatomy, movement, injuries, and the nervous system, and it changed my teaching forever. This is what I want for you to continue to learn and evolve your teaching. If you want a deeper understanding of anatomy and how it might change the way you teach, you're in the right place. I know it might feel overwhelming at the start, but there are ways to make understanding it a little less complex. I teach anatomy as it relates to teaching yoga, so you aren't learning random bones and muscles, but understanding how these parts of the body are incorporated into the yoga practice. I believe with all my heart that yoga teachers are movement educators, and we must understand the human body and its movements in order to be effective in our teaching. It's so important for us to have this conversation, and sometimes teaching can feel lonely, which is another reason why I started this podcast. So you'd have a place to go to ask questions and get answers. If you haven't already download the ebook sequencing for different injuries. The link is in the show notes and I promise you it will help to form a foundation for teaching students with injuries and aging bodies. The information will also help you understand how to accommodate students of different abilities. And it'll be a great resource for you to return to again and again. When you download the ebook, you'll be joining my newsletter. That's just for yoga teachers. I've got more exciting teachings coming soon, so I wanna tell you all about them. The link is in the show notes below, and I would love for you to join it so we can always stay connected. You know that my goal for you is to love the yoga teaching life and allow it to be fulfilling and rewarding, and as always, it might take some work to get there. If you love this episode, let me know. I've added a link in the show notes for you to send me a quick text message about your thoughts on this episode. I won't know your phone number. It's a neat addition to the platform I use. That allows for this new and super easy way for you to communicate with me. Once you click on it, it will take you to your messages. Don't delete the code. That's how your message will get to me, and I would love to know your thoughts. Subscribe to the podcast so you're always in the know when a new episode drops, and share it with another yoga teacher who you think would love to be in on these conversations. Thank you for helping to spread the word about this podcast and if you've been taking notes in your journal as you listen to these episodes, I'm so glad you are and I would love to hear about it. Alright, that's it for now. Bye.