Do Not Correct Your Yoga Posture Just by Looking at the Instructor.
When you look at your yoga instructor (or this super-talented person in the front row), you may realize that your posture is not quite the same as theirs. But you don’t want to imitate others exactly. In fact, it can harm you.
Yoga instructor Nicole Katz explains in Greatist that it’s better to work with your body’s abilities than strive for a specific look based on someone else’s body. This applies whether you are a beginner or an expert: our bodies are just differently designed. Katz writes:
From an anatomical point of view, there are usually two reasons why your poses may never look “perfect”: muscle constraints and skeletal constraints. Having one (or both) does not mean that there is something “wrong” with you. Yoga is to meet your body where it is – without judgment – and grow from there.
The exact fixes will vary from pose to pose. For example, in the case of a downward facing dog, many people need to bend their knees to bring the spine into a neutral position. This will allow you to work the muscles you want and get the most out of the pose. Check out the full article on Greatist for more, including before and after photos of how to fix some common mistakes.
Why Your Yoga Pose Will Never Be Like An Instructor’s Pose (Which Is Good!) | Great
Photo by Army Medicine .
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