FINDING ALIGNMENT

Learn to be fully embodied in your practice with advice from lyengar yoga expert Adela Serrano

- Eve Boggenpoel

Turn your right foot out 90 degrees, take your thigh parallel to the mat, don’t let your knee extend beyond your ankle… alignment cues such as these not only guide us into a pose, they keep us safe and help us become more aware of our body in the present moment. But, as useful as they are, instructions for the physical positioning of your body are only one aspect of what it means to be truly aligned in yoga.

‘The purpose of alignment is to bring awareness to every cell in your body,’ explains Adela Serrano, Iyengar yoga teacher with Ekhart Yoga (ekhartyoga.com). ‘It is the physical, breathing and mental aspects of the pose – and it is by fully embodying the pose that you find the alignment.’

Perhaps you’ve experienced being fully present in a pose – maybe you felt strongly rooted to the earth, as if nothing could disturb your equilibrium, or perhaps felt open and expansive, as if your body was pulsating with energy. What is happening in these moments is that your body, mind and emotions are in harmony – with yourself and with your environment. In essence, embodying a pose relates to the very root of the word yoga, which means ‘to unite’.

If you’d like to deepen your experience of alignment, Serrano suggests concentrating on three areas, the physical body, the breath and the direction of your gaze, and by starting with the basics.