To be honest I was a little shocked to know I have a slight hunch, as Jessica pointed out during one of our sessions. Looking in the mirror, I observed the inward rounding of my shoulders. Over the next few days, I often caught myself with shoulders scrunched up to my ears and compression in the neck. All the while that had been my “default position”, but I was never aware of it nor known that it was poor posture.
One of my biggest takeaways from practising yoga is the increased body awareness. Our YTT sessions provided greater insight on alignment and how to correct it. “Sit taller”, “draw shoulders away from your ears”, “lengthen your spine”, “scoop in your tailbone”. These are common cues when we practise asanas, but they remain relevant even as we sit, stand and go about our day to day lives. I think it is true when they say yoga is a lifestyle. There are so many things we learn on the mat that can be applied beyond the mat as well.
Vania (YTT200 Jun-Aug’18)
