Ep 70: How Alignment Cues Affect Your Nervous System

In the last two episodes, we've discussed keeping students safe in our classes by being more mindful of the alignment cues we use. However, what is correct alignment, and is it safe for all students?” Those questions were the inspiration for these episodes on how we teach alignment & what we teach students to believe about their personal alignment.

How has your teaching on alignment evolved since your initial  Yoga Teacher Training?

Mine has evolved significantly!

In this episode, we'll focus on two more perspectives: strength vs flexibility and the effects alignment has on the Nervous System.

Transcript

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We are continuing the alignment conversation, and because this conversation has so many legs, I've been mindful about how I cover all of the many beliefs that surround it. In the last two episodes, we covered alignment cues that are fear-based or one size fits all, and we've discussed how skeletal variations and students' personal preferences play a role in alignment. All of these so far are valid reasons why alignment. In even simple poses like Ana Mountain Pose can and should be allowed to look different in students' bodies. In this episode, I'm going to focus on two more perspectives, which are strength versus flexibility and the effects on the nervous system. So let's get into it. Welcome to the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers Podcast with me. I'm Monica Bright and I've been teaching yoga and running my yoga business for over a decade. This is the podcast for you. If you are a yoga teacher, you're looking for support. You love to be in conversation, and you're a lifelong student. In this podcast, I'll share with you. My life as a yoga teacher, the lessons I've learned, my process for building my business and helpful ideas, tools, strategies and systems I use and you can use so that your business thrives. We'll cover a diverse range of topics that will help you, whether you're just starting out or you've got years under your belt and you wanna dive deep and set yourself up for success. I am so glad you're here. Listen, I don't take myself too seriously, so expect to hear some laughs along the way. Now let's do this together. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Monica, and I am always so glad that you are here. You know, I love having conversations around anatomy, pain, injuries, the nervous system, and how these affect your sequencing over the years and throughout my continuing education. I found that these different conversations were not being tied together. For example, if I wanted to learn more about understanding pain, I was just learning about pain in the body and brain, but that education was not being tied back to. Sequencing or what I can do in my classes to help students. I worked on putting those pieces together myself, and while I was doing that, I started diving even deeper into certain subjects, one of them being alignment and questioned why we're so rigid when it comes to it. Yeah, because what looks okay in your body doesn't necessarily feel good. In mine, in the previous episodes, we discussed keeping students safe in our classes because I believe we all want that, right? However. It makes you question what is correct alignment and is it safe for all students? That took me down a rabbit hole and was inspiration for these episodes on what we teach students about alignment. For a moment, I want you to think about how your teaching on alignment has evolved since your initial yoga teacher training. I know my teaching and thinking about alignment has changed significantly. Initially, we were taught to teach alignment as a set of fixed cues. I was taught certain posture requirements that were considered correct for a particular pose and for all bodies. Just have a look in many of the yoga books or magazines, and the correct alignment is there, even though variations and modifications are also added, or God forbid, the full expression of the pose. There is a standard look that the pose must have according to these publications, however. The more we learn about movement, science, biomechanics, and inclusivity, it shows that we've incorporated an emphasis on functional movement, individual variation, and nervous system safety over rigid alignment cues. In this episode, I'm gonna focus on two more perspectives, which are strength versus flexibility and effects on the nervous system. First, let's talk about strength versus flexibility. We used to think and teach that flexibility was the priority and students were encouraged to push deeper into stretches. If we're honest, we even help them go deeper with our hands on a. We also used alignment cues that were aimed at increasing range of motion, sometimes at the expense of being in control of our joints at their end range. This sparked the conversation around mobility training, and when I use the term mobility, I mean joint control, not simply moving well. Now we know that more flexibility isn't always better. In fact, many people need more strength. And joint control and range of motion exercises as well. Overstretching can lead to joint instability, hypermobility issues, and increased pain. And because we know this, now, we can teach alignment that emphasizes engaging muscles to support joints rather than simply going deeper into a pose. Now you may be asking why strength matters more than extreme flexibility. Well, that's a great question. Being strong helps to protect your joints as well as aiding in preventing injuries. Remember, muscles help to provide stability for the joints. If you're stretching too much without adding strength, it can lead to tendon tears and overstretched ligaments. There have been cases of students tearing their hamstring tendons. Straight off the ischial tuberosity. That's the bottom of your pelvis that we often refer to as the sit bones They tore it off the bone because they were trying to push into full splits without being properly prepared and with little strength and control of their joints. Without strength and mobility training, hypermobile, students can easily overstretch ligaments leading to joint pain and instability. When I talk about mobility, I am specifically talking about being in control of your joints in whatever range you have. This is referred to as active range of motion, and it's more functional and beneficial for your body and your students' bodies when practicing yoga. The ability to hold a pose with control rather than just passively sinking into it is more useful for everyday movement. For example, and I teach this a lot, instead of passively collapsing into half pigeon, teach students to stay upright. Squeeze their glutes and possibly lift their hands from their mat. This variation requires posterior chain engagement of the upper body as well as glute engagement. Students will not be sinking into the stretch in the front hip. Instead, they're engaging their musculature in order to be in control of their joints. In this pose, it's hard, I'm not gonna lie, but it's a great way to add a bit of strength and mobility into your classes. One of the biggest lessons I've learned in my continuing education on movement is that flexibility without strength creates weakness. Over emphasizing stretching can lead to ligament laxity, which in turn leads to chronic pain and instability. You can teach students to engage their muscles actively while stretching to help build strength and control. Also, encourage them to take strength classes too. This is so important. I always tell my students that they should not. Only be practicing yoga. I learned this in my own body too. It's part of the reason why I got injured from my yoga practice. The key to remember here is that hypermobility research has shown us. That too much flexibility without strength leads to instability and injury risk. Instead of prioritizing deep flexibility, you should help students build strength and control in every range of motion. How did I learn this? I started studying mobility. When you think of alignment, are you just thinking of it as a physical positioning that we're teaching? Well, alignment is not just physical. It's also about the nervous system. You might've been taught that. Alignment is a physical concept like stacking bones, joint angles, muscle engagement, teaching alignment this way came from a focus on protecting the body from injury by achieving the correct positioning. Think of it this way, instead. Alignment is about how the nervous system feels in the pose, not just how a student's body looks. If a student is holding tension, struggling to breathe or feels anxious, then the alignment they're practicing. Isn't truly right for them. Their nervous system's response matters. If a pose creates strain or stress, it's likely doing more harm than good, and also upregulating their nervous system. I remember practicing yoga years ago, and I was in a seated twist, and the teacher came to me to give me an assist. I'm guilty. I respected this teacher and wanted to please her. So when she was adjusting me into a deeper twist, I stopped breathing. Not in a threatening way, or maybe it was signaling a threat to my nervous system, now that I think about it. But I just wanted to twist as far as she wanted me to go. She did notice and told me to breathe and backed off of her assists. But this is a big cue. If you notice students are holding their breath, then they have probably gone too far in a pose. Wherever they situate themselves in their alignment of pose, they should be able to breathe easily. This is the key. Alignment is often taught as a biomechanical principle, but it's also deeply connected to the nervous system. If one of your students feels unsafe. Unstable or overwhelmed in a pose. Their nervous system reacts by tensing muscles limiting movement, or even triggering pain responses. Here are some signs that alignment isn't working for the nervous system. number one, holding the breath. Number two, clenching muscles excessively. Number three. Feeling unstable, wobbly, or fearful? Number four, pain, discomfort, or a sense of pushing through something unpleasant. And number five, mental or emotional resistance to the pose. If you notice a student experiencing these reactions, their nervous system is signaling that something needs to change, whether that's the pose, their breathing, or their overall sense of safety. Here are a few ways to help make alignment more nervous system friendly. Number one, prioritize stability and control over depth and flexibility. A student who feels unstable and oppose might tense up to feel like they're protecting themselves. Instead of encouraging students to go deeper, help them back off and find a strong and stable foundation. Where they feel more supported. Number two, encourage breath awareness. If students are holding their breath, they may be experiencing nervous system stress. Guide them back to their breath and encourage them to breathe slowly and evenly before going deeper in a pose. Number three. Avoid rigid cues that cause fear. Fear-based alignment, cues like never let your knee go past your toes or you'll get injured actually trigger the sympathetic nervous system That's the fight or flight response. Making students more tense and afraid to move. instead, use neutral and invitational language, like explore how this position feels in your body. And number four, give permission to exit the pose. Students should never feel like they're trapped in alignment or that they would be reprimanded if they come out of a pose. You'd be surprised how many students have experienced this. I don't know what this is, but it's not yoga, and students shouldn't be afraid to care for themselves at any point throughout class. Normalize rest and modifications by saying things like, if this variation isn't working today, try this instead. Teach rest and modifications too. We have to look deeper into alignment further than what it looks like and more so into how it feels in the body, how positioning feels to a student's safety. also think of alignment as nervous system friendly. Strength versus flexibility and the effects alignment has on a student's nervous system, aren't really taught in 200 hour yoga teacher trainings. And I mean, I get it. The 200 hour training is just the start. And yes, you have to learn the fundamentals of yoga and build on One way you build is to think and teach alignment in a way that is safe, open, accessible, and honors Students' needs, their needs vary, so alignment should vary as well. To tie this whole conversation about alignment together, we need to talk about preventing injuries. I wanna dedicate an entire episode to that because I have a lot to say and I don't want it to get lost in the sauce. So for now, digest this conversation around flexibility versus strength. Look at your sequences and notice where you can add in more control rather than flexibility. Then when you're teaching notice if students are tensing up, if they're clenching their teeth, if they're holding their breath, and teach them to pull back a little bit and breathe. I'm excited for you to try this out and see how it changes the way you think about teaching alignment. I always want you to leave feeling empowered. I too have been here. I didn't know any better, but then I learned more about anatomy, movement, injuries, and the nervous system, and it changed my teaching forever. This is what I want for you to continue to learn and evolve your teaching. If you want a deeper understanding of anatomy and how it might change the way you teach, you're in the right place. I know it might feel overwhelming at the start, but there are ways to make understanding it a little less complex. I teach anatomy as it relates to teaching yoga, so you aren't learning random bones and muscles, but understanding how these parts of the body are incorporated. Into the yoga practice. I believe with all my heart that yoga teachers are movement educators, and we must understand the human body and its movements in order to be effective in our teaching. It's so important for us to have this conversation, and sometimes teaching can feel lonely, which is another reason why I started this podcast. So you'd have a place to go to ask questions and get answers if you haven't already. Download the ebook sequencing for different injuries. The link is in the show notes, I promise you it will help form a foundation for teaching students with injuries and aging bodies. The information will also help you understand how to accommodate students of different abilities, and it'll be a great resource for you to return to again and again. When you download the ebook, you'll be joining my newsletter. That's just for yoga teachers. I've got more exciting teachings coming soon, so I wanna tell you all about them. The link is in the show notes below, and I would love for you to join it so we can always stay connected. You know that my goal is for you to love the yoga teaching life. And allow it to be fulfilling and rewarding. If you love this episode, let me know. I've added a link in the show notes for you to send me a quick text message about your thoughts on this episode. I won't know your phone number. It's just a neat addition to the platform I use that allows for this new and super easy way for you to communicate with me. Once you click on it, it will take you to your messages, but don't delete the code. That's how your message will get to me, and I would love to know your thoughts. Subscribe to the podcast so you're always in the know when a new episode drops and share it with another yoga teacher who you think would love to be in on these conversations. Thank you for helping to spread the word about this podcast and if you've been taking notes in your journal as you listen to these episodes, I'm so glad you are and I would love to hear about it. Alright, that's it for now. Bye.