Alignment principles
Alignment is not just to look good and be picture perfect in the posture. There are two main purposes in learning proper alignment. First, it is to ensure that the postures are done in a way which minimises the risk of injury, and, secondly, to ensure that they are done in a way which directs the flow of prana (life energy) appropriately within the body. Different postures affect the flow of prana in different ways. Each person has a unique body with its anatomical variations. However, awareness of the following general points should help in your practice. Once you learn the basic principles, everything will be easy and intuitive. In the initial practice, listen to the body. Be aware of the feeling of the muscles stretching, and where it is felt. Do not do to the point of pain.
The Earth Element : Create a Foundation For Your Asanas
In life, the wise seek to be balanced and grounded. From there, all decisions naturally arise from a place of clarity and intelligence. The same holds true for your yoga practice. Each asana must emerge from a place of centeredness, from a strong foundation.
Pay attention to your foundation, that part of your body in contact with the ground. How is a foundation established in each and every asana? The key lies in your connection to the earth. There will be some part of your body in contact with the ground in each yoga asana. It may be your feet (standing asanas), your hands (hand balances) or your sit bones (sitting asanas).
Once the foundation is established, any asana can be safely explored with freedom and grace. From a strong foundation, the body's natural intelligence will guide the yogi deeper into the fullest expression of the asana.
Let's begin with Tadasana, mountain pose.
Grounding through the feet - Tadasana
The two feet form the foundation of this asana since they are touching the earth. . First, bring awareness to the feet, feeling the firm ground below them.
Balance the weight evenly between right and left foot.
Lift one foot at a time, stretching it as long and wide as possible, spreading the toes apart.
Place the foot down and feel all three corners of the foot - the mound of the big toe and little toe, heel, pressing evenly onto the mat
Once all three points are grounded, lift the inner and outer arch up off the ground by gently and firmly pressing the foot down at the three corners.
The grounding force of the feet will exert a force in the opposite direction facilitating the lifting of the inner and outer arches off the ground as well as the extension of the legs and spine upwards.
With the foundation established, other aspects of the asana may be explored. Activate the feet in this same way, each time they are in contact with the earth.
Take any other asana; uttanasana, utkatasana, trikonasana, virabhadrasana, or prasarita padottanasana, a few examples where the same foot to earth grounding sequence described above will be applied.
Grounding through the hands and feet - adho mukha svanasana (downward dog)
Get on hands and knees. Place hands under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Make sure the spine is fully extended. New students have a tendency to have their arms too wide and their feet too close together. If the base is out of proportion, the pose becomes unstable, the joints stressed, and organs compressed.
Lightly spread the fingers, making sure the middle finger faces directly forward. Bring awareness to the hands. Without tensing them, connect all of the joints of the fingers and the inner and outer palm into the earth. This will create a lift in the palms of the hand, reducing pressure on the wrist.
As you lift the hips to the ceiling and draw them back, and look at the feet. They should be hip-distance apart. The heels may or may not touch the ground. Contract the abdomen to the spine gently.
Grounding through the shins
In exploring another asana, ustrasana we see an entirely new grounding point - grounding through the shins. Again, return to the basic idea - that which is in contact with the earth will create the foundation. Press down firmly through the entire shin, front of the ankle and top of the foot. Then, extend the rest of the body out of the foundation of the shinbone. Here, let us think of the shins as two long feet to stand on and then lift the spine up from there.
Grounding through forearms
In sirsasana, the forearms and crown of the head provide the foundation. The pressing down of the forearms is similar to the pressing down of the shinbones in ustrasana. You literally "stand" down into the forearms and then lift the whole body out of this grounding force. When the forearms press down onto the ground, the ground will exert an upward force on the body enhancing your intention and the action of extending the spine upwards in the opposite direction into the air.
Once the Earth element is discovered, every posture will unfold intelligently from a place of strength and stability. Tapping into the natural intelligence of the body will be easy once we learn the lessons that our beloved planet Earth teaches us: to be balanced, centered, and grounded.
Learn to Rotate the arms
To have a strong foundation in the arms, learn how to both internally and externally rotate the arms at the same time. This helps you to connect to the inner wrist, open the shoulders, and broaden the upper back. To feel how this happens, when in Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog), bend the elbows to the side in a diamond shape. Then, rotate the elbows under and a little in. Due to the anatomy of the arms, the upper arms are naturally going to move in the opposite direction (external rotation). You will feel the shoulders broadening and feel the strength of the shoulder muscles supporting. This also prevents the hunching of shoulders towards the neck and ears. Put a little more pressure on the inner part of the hands to resist the tendency for the inner hands to lift off when the arms are rotated.
Align the Knees
Symmetrical posture
When standing in a symmetrical posture, place the feet parallel to each other. Bring awareness to the thighs, knee caps, feet and big toes. Check their position.
Now, turn the big toes and feet inward slightly till the big toes are parallel. This will enable you to rotate the inner thighs and knee caps inwards, so the knee caps face forwards. These movements will align the pelvis. Pelvic alignment is important because it affects the lower back.
Aligning the feet in this way also ensures that the knees are in the same alignment as the feet and not twisted. The knees' connective tissues can be injured by twisting of the knee.
When bending forward or backward, this alignment of the knee caps and thighs is important.
Asymmetrical postures
The alignment described above is also important in asymmetrical standing postures (such as the warrior postures). The kneecap of the bent leg in front should point in the same direction as the toes. There is a tendency for the thigh and knee cap to turn in, so glance down to see that the lower thigh is externally rotated to align the knee cap to the direction of the toes.
Avoid locking the knees
The knees should not lock, or hyperextend. Hyperextension of the knees is caused by ligaments that are too lax. Always maintain a little bend, by only straightening the leg to about 90% of its extendibility. This can be done by contracting and lifting the lower thigh muscles rather than simply pushing the knee back. Slightly lifting the great toe off the ground will also engage the thigh muscles to prevent hyperextension. People with hyperextended knees usually have weak quadriceps (thigh muscles), or do not tend to engage them fully in straight-legged poses. Hyperextension can lead to serious knee injuries and arthritis.
Relax the shoulders back and down
Shoulders should not hunch forward whether in standing postures, sitting or in forward bends. To experience the right alignment; stand in Tadasana, palms facing to the front. This rotates the head of the arm bone, thus opening up the chest. Raise both arms up to shoulder level, while keeping the palms facing up. Keeping the upper arms still, bend the elbows to 90 degrees, turning the wrists so the palms and thumbs face away from your face and away from each other.
Feel the muscles around and underneath the shoulder blades firm up; press the shoulder blades into the back. This encourages the chest bone to lift and open up. The actions pull the shoulders back and down. Keeping the arms up, and back of the palms facing you, slowly move the elbows up and down about 3 inches on a vertical plane. Notice the muscles in the shoulder blades firming up each time.
Now, extend the arms to the side like in Virabhadrasana II but with the palms facing up. Feel how the shoulder blade muscles are supporting the arms. You can now turn the palms to face down and feel the difference.
Twist
The upper spine has more flexibility and rotational ability than the lower spine due to the structure of the vertebrae, discs and joints of the spine. Twisting postures should focus on rotation in the middle and upper back. Initiate the twist from the core of the body in the abdomen. Turn at the belly button to the side first, followed by the chest, then the shoulders, and finally the head and neck. Imagine each inhale lengthening the spine (both upwards and downwards) to create more space between the vertebrae, with each exhale deepening the rotation.
Bends
Create the space to bend. While the lower back has the least ability to rotate, it is the easier part of the spine to bend forward and backward. Remember not overdo it just because of its relative ease as it can lead to lower back discomfort.
There are three things to remember In bends, whether it is to the back, side or forward - i) create space between the vertebrae by extending and lengthening the spine before you go into the bend as well as during the bend – that allows the spine more room to bend. Feel the extension as you are going through the bend.
ii) bend as evenly as possible through the whole spine – don't over-emphasise the lumbar spine. The neck is part of the spine, so try not to drop the heavy head back onto the small cervical vertebrae. Lengthen the neck and keep it extended as you bend backwards.
iii) Buttocks are not tightly clenched but only lightly engaged, otherwise this will inhibit the spine's ability to move.