Sometimes a subtle shift can make a huge difference

Here is a perfect example:  Vrksasana or Tree Pose. 

I remember back in the day when I first starting teaching yoga that I used to stand around in the studio lobby chatting with fellow teachers and students all while standing in tree pose.

Now when I say tree pose, I mean the picture on the left. I would push my hip out to the side and was not engaging any muscles. I was super flexible and mobile.

Fast forward to baby #2 and I would push that same hip out to the side but this time while plopping my baby on hip (and loading those poor overstretched ligaments.)

This eventually caused a tear in my hip but that is a story for another time. The point is that you must have balance between strength and flexibility in order to avoid injury. 

As you can see in the first picture, I am pushing my hip out to the side and not engaging my hip or glute muscles.  In the second picture, I am engaging those muscles and standing more upright.

Here are a few alignment tips:

• Root your standing leg foot into the ground
• Engage your quadricep muscles by lifting your kneecaps
• Squeeze your standing leg glute
• As you press your foot into your inner thigh, hug your standing leg hip into the midline

This is just a taste of the alignment cues you will learn in my Digital Mini-Course: YOGA BODY, STRONG BODY (Level 1) which is now available!