"If it Feels Good" is Not Teaching

A slouching skeleton that "feels good"

I was born with metatarsus adductus — the front part of my right  foot curves inward pretty radically. When I was growing up, the other kids would say, “you walk funny.” I never knew what they meant until I was in the ninth grade and caught my reflection in the glass of the school door as I walked toward it.

Let me be clear, my condition is not debilitating nor does it impede my quality of life. But I wanted to share it with you because before I started practicing alignment based postural yoga (asana),  I would kick my left ankle once or twice a week when I was walking. The pain varied depending on the shoe and my speed. There were even a few times when I broke the skin.

There is a growing number of yoga want-to-be-influencers that are trying to build their brand by spreading, falsely, that alignment in asana doesn’t matter or that it is causing harm. Before I dive in, let me say that, yes, a lot of what you may hear in a yoga class is anecdotal and/or designed to be digestible for lay persons. The technical ins and outs are generally reserved for teacher trainings/CEUs or workshops. Just because a teacher chooses non-scientific terms to convey a direction, does not mean that they are unaware of the kinesiology behind it.

Why the Alignment Matters:

Movement trains your body and sometimes instructions given by your teacher will be difficult for you in the beginning. If an alignment is impossible for you, a qualified teacher will show you alternative movements, how to use props and help you discern if this is something that your body simply does not do or if it’s something that the mind isn’t ready for the body to attempt.

I was once on a yoga teacher training faculty where a co-trainer seemed to have taught that tadasana (mountain pose) was simply standing in a way that is comfortable. This is an incompetent teaching. Tadasana is what personal trainers refer to as anatomical neutral. Tadasana is an aligned posture that allows the body's muscle systems to work synergistically — agonists and antagonists in proper relationship, stabilizers doing their job — rather than recruiting compensatory patterns that burn energy and degrade signal. Of course, adjust for larger frames, scoliosis, the ability to stand and other things that may prevent a student from performing the pose in the most traditional way.

Tadasana can be taught while seated in a chair, with the integrity of the asana intact. Teachers with experience working with clients of all ages, body types and abilities know how to do this. Those teachers who lack this skill, attack the alignment instead of embracing the education.

Alignment is not ableism. Alignment is a scientific method that cares for the kinetic chain of yoga and movement students. Keep in mind that our bones are constantly remodeling. They do this based on the information that we give to them from our movements and how we exist statically.  If you are a teacher in this space and were not taught alignment as well as modifications for body inclusivity, you need CEUs.

As a person with metatarsus adductus I had to work at having my feet parallel in tadasana. I am grateful to my early teachers that taught me how to come into tadasana instead of “inviting me to stand how ever is most comfortable.” If they did not apply their knowledge to my body, I would still be kicking my left ankle as I walked. Now, that my body has been trained over years of practice to come to tadasana, that minor inconvenience has been removed from my life. This is why you teach the pose and modify as needed. Asana is prescriptive. It has been tested. It works.

Alignment Builds Wisdom:

As I mentioned, we are constantly teaching the body how to remodel itself. Practicing and studying the body’s alignment helps us develop wisdom that we take off of the mat. This wisdom can help prevent new injuries as well as help in the healing of past injuries.

I remember seeing a private client that was having issues with lifting weights as well as anything heavy in her household. She thought that those years were behind her. After I analyzed the way that she was moving especially her arms’ relationship with her shoulders, I noticed the misalignment that she had taught her body. When articulating her arm, she was not moving from the stability of her shoulder. Instead, she was moving and more importantly, lifting objects without first rooting the head of her arm bone into her shoulder socket. Once we fixed that with simple alignment based exercises, she not only returned to weight training but she was also able to move through her daily activities with less pain and more range of motion.

If I invited my student to continue to move “in a way that feels good,” she never would have gained wisdom about her body or had her breakthrough. This is why alignment is the more compassionate teacher. It is the most caring way to bring your knowledge as a trained professional to those seeking your guidance.

Taken out of the yoga studio, alignment simply becomes healthy bio-mechanics. In that framing, there is no controversy. What is unclear to me, is that in a physical practice that includes standing on your head, why in the world would correct bio-mechanics be questioned? What is it about Western asana that makes people think that feeling supersedes safety?

The only conclusion that I can come to is clicks. Social media thrives on controversy and what could be more controversial than coming after people dedicated to efficacy and safety and longevity in the practice? If you dare to claim to be a professional yoga teacher, then please know that your students’ well-being is paramount to brand deals and likes.

Alignment Brings Clarity:

Imagine trying to get a clear message with weak wi-fi. That’s what happens when the body is constantly misaligned. When your body is chronically misaligned, low-grade muscle tension occurs and the body begins to think that it’s in fight/flight/fawn mode. Without gentle correction, this becomes your baseline way of being.

Alignment is even more important as we age, affecting our proprioception — the ability to know where we are in space. Without this, it’s impossible to balance and movement like walking, running and even dancing become more challenging. All of this is due to sending false data to the brain over a long period of time.

Just as misalignment affects the gross body the subtle body can also fall prey. Think of the nadis as the nervous system of your subtle body. Just like the gross nervous system, they send signals particularly to the chakras. Remember that the chakras, although they are part of the subtle body, influence the gross body. For example, when there is misalignment in the upper body, the breath can feel tight or uneven. You may also have a case of “the blues” that you can’t shake. Both indicate imbalance in the anahata chakra (heart center). The re-balancing of anahata begins with sliding the shoulder blades down and in towards the spine, providing a subtle lift of the heart and giving the lungs more room to expand as you inhale.

Additionally, the chakras line up along the spine, with the crown floating just above the head. The sahasrara chakra is the entry point for spiritual transmission. Yes, there are certain medical conditions that will prevent a stacked spine but even in those cases, small gains can be made to increase alignment, comfort and better balance to the chakras.

Final Thoughts:

When you are beginning a yoga (or really any movement) practice that emphasizes correct alignment of the body, you are going to feel uncomfortable. This is normal and expected. Both your body and your brain are unlearning and relearning patterns.

On the surface, “if it feels good,” seems like kindness. In reality, it is an act of neutrality that is antithetical to the concept of instructing. As teachers and trainers, it is our job to not only guide our students but to also help them grow their practice.

Growth happens when we are challenged physically, intellectual and spiritually. That is the yoga.