In teacher training, we spent a lot of time standing. Not really tadasana, or standing poses, but just learning how we naturally stood, and how we ought to stand. I have to admit, at times, I found this tedious and tiresome, but over and over again, various teachers would come in, and there we’d be, standing on our two feet, lifting our toes, aligning our bones, again and again and again. It’s all well and good to stand straight, but really, if you taught people this would it make any difference in their lives, or would they just never return to your classroom because they were bored to tears?
Then one day I lifted my toes, and my entire body didn’t shift backwards. All of this standing practice had sunk into my body. I’m not sure if this was the same day Dr. John Krueger showed this video, or if it was slightly before, but either way, this little aha! moment had primed me to really respond to this video.
Out of all the videos I watched during my teacher training (or, really, ever), this one has had the biggest impact on me. While it is a little dated in style, visually seeing how exaggerated our postures have become with modern technology, as well as seeing the effect our slumped posture has on our internal organs, not to mention feeling the reversal of the effects as my posture has straightened back out, has made me a believer in at least attempting to take people through stacking ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and head in proper alignment. The funny thing is giving these cues, usually in tadasana, has helped me figure out where else in the practice I can start to loop back to reiterate those cues. While one may think of this in standing postures (where it is very valid), feeling that line in other postures, such as plank or down dog, can bring strength and ease to the posture that usually eludes us. Partially because we are using our bone’s strength to support us, but also because our organs can function optimally, allowing us to breathe fully and keep our blood flowing to all parts of our bodies.
The best part? Now I get to see others’ aha! moments. And I love it!
