How can I listen to my Body in Yoga?

Functional vs Aesthetic Anatomy

As you have hopefully realised by now, I am extremely passionate about discovering and sharing ways that we can take our Yoga practice off the mat and into our lives, where the real work begins.

Yoga practice serves as a rehearsal for daily life, a dress run where we can get comfortable making mistakes and build the confidence necessary to overcome challenges. Today's exploration of how to implement the Yogic sciences in a practical way, comes under the branch of anatomy.

A few months ago, whilst living in Finland, I began reading Bernie Clark's book Your Spine, Your Yoga and was so inspired by his direct and passionate standpoint on seeking a posture that works, not one that is aesthetically pleasing. [1]

I would like to use Bernie's teachings on the physical, anatomical considerations for our Yoga practice, as a thread through which to stitch together the philosophical meaning that we can take from this inspiring standpoint. Those of us that have spent time to develop an Ashtanga Yoga practice understand the importance of precision, discipline, and attention to detail.

However, it has become clear to me over the last couple of years, that so often Yoga students are ignoring the signals and sensations from their own bodies in favour of the pre-scripted alignment points that so many Ashtanga teachers are determined must be upheld with absolute perfection.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Ashtanga Yoga and I owe a great deal to this practice and it's attention to detail. It has supported me in building incredible self-discipline, resilience, and determination in times when I have needed it most.

And still, there comes a point where we have to find the balance and start listening, really listening, to our bodies and the messages that they are giving us. Rather than compare our postures to an aesthetic ideal, it is better to work toward a functional posture, which varies moment to moment and movement by movement. [2]

How many times do you sit in Yoga classes and forcibly direct your body into a position that it either isn't ready to perform, or simply cannot comfortably be accomplished by your skeleton?

Be honest, how often!?

What are you teaching your students when you focus your alignment cues and commentary on the visual aspects of a Yoga Asana, giving little to no space for the description of sensation that each posture offers?

When, as the Yoga Community, will we start embracing our bodies exactly as they are, by using posture in a therapeutic way to strengthen and support us in the way we need it, rather than compete and control with ourselves and the person on the mat next to us?

Let's apply this same understanding to our practice off the mat. I feel that Bernie's teachings of focussing on the function and feeling of postures lends itself beautifully to a healthy and holistic approach to life.

Let's make time and space for people, places, and practices that support us to feel good.

We can use this approach to assist us in overcoming self-doubt and insecurities by focussing on the good feeling that comes from expressing ourselves authentically in the world and leaving behind the anxious uncertainty and fear of failure about how we will look to others when doing so.

Posture, like alignment should be in the service of movement, not the other way around. We don't move to get into the perfect posture, the posture or alignment we seek should be the one that allows us to move with minimal effort. [3]

Our environment and the things in it are here to help us make sense of ourselves and allow us to expand. People, places, and practices are mirrors for us to discover who we truly are and what our unique view point is.

Neither our environment or the components contained within it are intended to be something that we define ourselves by or measure ourselves up against. When we do this, we limit ourselves, we feel stuck, unable to move. When we try to change ourselves to fit societal ideals, we destroy the very essence of creative expression, freedom, and growth within us.

When we stop loving and feeling into our 'imperfections', the quirks that make us unique, we block ourselves from the possibility of being a role model who embodies their values and has the power to help and inspire others.

As Yoga teachers, in the current time we are living, it is my belief that we have a responsibility to facilitate meaningful connection and safe spaces to feel. In order to inspire our students and make the world better for them, we have to embody the ability to deeply listen to ourselves and honour our authenticity. This is the first step towards embodying our teachings in a way that creates meaningful impact and inspires change.

For now, I will leave you with an invitation. Next time you are in a Yoga class, either teaching or practicing, and you hear the phrase 'listen to your body' either from the teacher, or pouring out of your own mouth, FEEL IT & MEAN IT!

Allow yourself to grow, expand, retract and everything in between. Allow your practice to be the anchor that serves you in whichever way you need it to from moment to moment. There is no such thing as a perfect posture! [4]

There is no such thing as a perfect human being!

Let's lean into feeling and start living.

Listening to your body - A few Tips & Tricks ✨

♡ Explore the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Yoga Nidra is a powerful practice of conscious relaxation. Regular practice of Yoga Nidra teaches you how to become deeply aware and attuned to the breath as well as the feelings and sensations within the body. Just a few of the many benefits of this practice include:

• Memory development.
• Deep soothing for the entire nervous system.
• Increase in creativity.
• Recharge and revitalise your energy.

You can certainly practice Yoga Nidra by yourself and there are also lots of guided sessions online. The one that I use regularly and highly recommend for deep healing can be found here.

♡ Yoga Teachers - Experiment with your choice of language when cueing in your classes 

As an exercise, write down a cue that you regularly use and brainstorm 5-10 different ways that you could give this instruction that focuses on the feeling that it creates. e.g.

"draw the shoulders down away from the ears" could become....

"Find space around the shoulders."

"Release tension from around the neck and upper back." 

So much love, genuinely

Ciara Nicole X