Have you experienced this feeling? Things are going smoothly, and life moves with ease and flow. You’re making the right decisions for your highest good, and you handle the inevitable bumps in the road with grace. The resources and help you need seem to line up to support you. You feel your life is in balance. That’s the feeling of being in alignment.
Alignment: the proper positioning or state of adjustment of parts in relation to each other; an arrangement of groups or forces in relation to one another.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
When you’re out of alignment, things feel off kilter. Everything feels hard, and hard to handle. Maybe you’re more irritable, easily annoyed. Or you’re not sleeping well. Or dwelling on the past or ruminating about the future.
Being in alignment doesn’t mean that you won’t face challenges. Real life is never is all sunshine and rainbows. But by cultivating alignment, you’ll be better prepared and supported to meet almost whatever comes your way.
How do we find alignment? There are many different practices and techniques that can help.
Alignment through Yoga
Yoga is an ancient holistic system of wellness that seeks to bring alignment to the body, mind, and spirit. In Western culture, that objective is often overshadowed by a focus primarily on the physical, “exercise” aspect of yoga. But it’s through that physical, “hatha” element of yoga that we find alignment with the mind and spirit. In the words of the renowned yoga teacher B.K.S. Iyengar:
It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.
B.K.S. Iyengar
Let’s explore the elements of alignment, their relationship to yoga, and in everyday life.
The Elements of Alignment
Alignment comes from a balance of three core elements: body, mind, and spirit.
This element is all about your physical body, and how you care for it.
Structurally, is your posture tall? Are your neck, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles aligned? (This is what’s called the kinetic chain.) Do you have good physical balance?
Few human bodies are perfect (and many that seem to be, are just Photoshopped.) Even those rare body types that seem perfect on the outside may have issues on the inside. Injuries, illness, and the aging process can create imbalances and corresponding challenges.
Internally, the body naturally seeks a state of homeostasis, or equilibrium. It’s how the body regulates various physiological processes to keep internal states steady and balanced. It happens mostly unconsciously.
If you feel out of alignment with respect to your physical body, consider taking stock of where you are with these practices and making just one or two changes:
- How often you move your body, and what types of exercise and/or movement practices you follow
- How much sleep you get, and the quality of your sleep
- How you fuel and nourish your body
- Your self-care practices: everything from brushing and flossing, to getting regular health checkups and preventative screenings
Yoga and Physical Alignment
Yoga starts where you are. Every yoga posture can, and should, be modified to the specific needs of your body as it is at that moment. Yoga does have some fundamental alignment principles that help you get the most benefit from each posture while minimizing the risk of injury.
Align your neck and spine
The neck is an extension of the spine. Keeping your neck and spine aligned is essential to optimize breathing, balance, and energy flow. It’s the number one alignment principle for almost every yoga posture, and it carries forward into everyday life as well. Throughout your day, become conscious of your head position – especially when working at the computer, or while you’re on your phone.
Align from a base of support
The base of support is usually either one or both feet, or the hands and feet. By first grounding into the base of support, you then activate each muscle group and align each body part to come into the posture.
Stack the joints
Arranging key joints in alignment provides greater strength, stability, and support to these joints and their connective tissues. Some examples include stacking the wrists, elbows and shoulders in a plank pose, or stacking the front knee and ankle in a lunge pose.
Micro-bends
Fully straightening the limbs in many yoga poses isn’t necessary, or even healthy. Instead, keep a micro-bend in your elbows or knees to prevent hyperextension and even maximize your muscles’ engagement. Forget about perfectly straight lines, and find greater success in your poses as a result.
Use props
B.K.S. Iyengar introduced the use of yoga props – blocks, bolsters, blankets, straps – to help practitioners find better alignment in poses. Using a prop doesn’t mean you are “bad at yoga.” Knowledgeable yogis understand that props can enhance alignment, which maximizes the posture’s benefits, and enhances the mind-body connection.
Aligning the Mind and Body
Alignment is to bring balance between the flow of energy and intelligence to connect the body to the mind.
B.K.S. Iyengar
Scientists have described the mind as the part of yourself that makes you who you are—your consciousness, dreams, emotions, and memories.
In Light on Life, Iyengar wrote
“In asana [yoga’s physical postures] you must align and harmonize the physical body and all the layers of the subtle emotional, mental, and spiritual body. This is integration.”
The mind and the body are intrinsically linked. Consider how when you become angry, your face becomes flush, perhaps your gut clenches, and your muscles tense.
By consciously practicing turning our awareness to the body, we become more present. And when we are present, the mind is focused on the here and now – not the argument you had last week with your boss, or what you’ll fix for dinner tonight.
One simple way to practice presence is through conscious breathing and meditation. Taking a few moments to simply become aware of your breath can instill a sense of calm and focus. You’ll feel more energized and more productive. And you’ll be better able to hear what your body, mind and soul are telling you.
This is the essence of mind-body alignment.
Yoga and Mind-Body Alignment
The practice of yoga asanas, or postures, was developed thousands of years ago to specifically foster body awareness and bring the mind into alignment with the body.
Alignment in body, mind and soul leads to enlightenment.
B.K.S. Iyengar
Enlightenment is a word that has many deep meanings. But at a high level, it means being in the now, in the present moment, which is all we can control. Your mind may want to change the past or control the future, but this isn’t really possible.
When you practice yoga, focusing on the alignment of your body in each pose, you’re strengthening the mind-body connection by increasing your awareness of what you’re experiencing in your body in that very moment. That deep focus and concentration frees you from the ruminations of the past and the worries of the future.
Breath work, or “pranayama,” is an essential part of yoga practice. We prepare the mind for yoga with structured, focused breathing. Then, during practice, we connect our breath to our movements between postures, and within each posture. At the end of practice, we once again return to focus on the breath in the complete relaxation of savasana.
Alignment with Spirit
The concept of human spirit varies amongst different philosophies and religions. For this discussion, let’s consider your “spirit” to be your inner self – your personality, your values, what brings you joy, and what’s important to you.
In our modern world, it’s easy to become disconnected with our spirit. We’re bombarded with hundreds of messages every day telling us what we should want, how we should look, what we should feel or believe. Misinformation, and disinformation, are out of control. In my view, alignment with spirit means living in sync with my core values. I’m doing what is right for me, regardless of anyone else’s opinion. The best way to connect to your core values is through quieting and focusing the mind. Dr. Dean Ornish says it well:
We all have an inner teacher, an inner guide, an inner voice that speaks very clearly, but usually not very loudly. But if we quiet down the mind, we can begin to hear what we’re not paying attention to. We can find out what’s right for us.
Dr. Dean Ornish
Conclusion
Think of alignment as a place of balance within your body, mind and spirit. Only you can define what that looks and feels like for you. If you feel out of alignment, start by exploring where you are right now. Then experiment with different practices, such as self-care, meditation, or yoga to help you find your center of balance. Align from there, and when the inevitable challenges come up, you’ll be better equipped to re-aright and move forward with confidence.
About the Author
Laurie Kelly, CPT, RYT-200 is the owner of Dragonfly Drishti Yoga. She believes yoga offers a wholistic approach to wellness like nothing else. Her background in personal training and nutrition coaching gives her unique insights into the benefits of this ancient practice. She loves teaching others how to incorporate yoga and mindfulness into their daily lives, and thereby reach their personal wellness and life goals. Contact her here.