
I think many of us would agree that a strict, dogmatic focus on alignment in asana doesn’t really serve our students, but the question you may be asking next is… what do I teach then? If I’m not telling students the right or wrong way to move their body, what am I teaching them? How do I communicate information about movement without taking away my students’ agency?
My friend Derek Cook is here to take us on a deep dive into anatomy, biomechanics, and pedagogy as we attempt to answer some of these questions!
In this episode you’ll hear:
- overarching themes we see in lineages that have an emphasis on alignment
- how bodies grow and change, the role trauma plays, and why that matters to yoga teachers
- what changes when we look at how a body is ORGANIZED as opposed to how it is aligned
- a breakdown of many of the most commonly used aesthetic cues and when they make sense to use and when they don’t
- how Derek decides what to teach!
Learn More From Derek:
- At his online class library, The Single Point Yoga
- On Instagram here and here
Enjoyed the podcast very much. Derek’s point about differences in bodies and aesthetic pre- judgments is a critical one.
I totally agree Mary Ann! I’m so glad we’re on the same page about this. 🙂