Correct execution of postures
Yoga is an invitation to explore what the body's exercise can do for our state of being.
In contrast to athletics, team sports or the martial arts, for example, this body exercise is special in that it is based on canonical postures, i.e. a set of listed, classical postures, usually with a nice Sanskrit name.
However, yoga as a discipline has evolved continuously, especially since it was taken over by the West. Numerous "styles of yoga" have emerged, and this multiplication of styles is not about to stop.
As a result, clarifying what it means to "perform the postures correctly" depends on the style of yoga. We'd like to clarify the question by outlining its various dimensions:
Aesthetics: alignment and elegance
Goal-oriented (physical or sensational)
Risks & Injuries
Depending on the style, these 3 dimensions may vary, leaving room for a wide variety of conclusions as to the interpretation of the word "correct".
Dimension #1: Aesthetics, landmarks, geometry
We love the aesthetics of yoga, whether it's
In static postures that conjure up images of the ancestral yogi seated [Sukhasana] in meditation or in headstand [Sirsansa] or
In movement, slow or fast, that brings us closer to the aesthetics of dance or "mindfulness".
Aesthetics & Geometry
Alignments (lines), respect for right or half-right angles and curves close to the circle are the first aesthetic ingredients. What we call "geometry".
Most styles of yoga have a fascination with alignments and therefore with geometry. The discipline aims to transform the body to mold itself into its alignment injunctions.
Every body is unique
On the other hand, nothing in nature is perfectly geometric. A femur, for example, is a bone with many curves and twists... Muscular trim, too, is made up of sophisticated curves that call up another dimension of aesthetics, this one totally human.
It is in this context that we have introduced a relative notion of "correct" posture.
To start with, the correct posture for us doesn't exist: certain bone constructions simply don't allow us to perform certain postures (sometimes even simple ones, like Malasana, a sitting posture with the heel on the ground). In the 10 principles of Anatomy Based Yoga, this is taken up in the point "EVERY BODY IS UNIQUE".
What position for the foot, hip, arms, etc.? What are the distances between the feet?
The objective guide (provided you no longer have faith in this or that yoga founder's prescription or text) for defining this is first and foremost aesthetics: which position is prettier?
This element may seem trivial, but it allows us to agree on what we see and how we appreciate it. It's an almost objective, shareable part.
It allows us to define a notion of reference point. Let's take an example: how far apart to place the feet and hands in the head-down dog [Ado mukha shavasana].
The answer may be: the distance that allows you to put your heels on the ground, or to have a straight back, or to create a right angle between legs and trunk.
Variability is already apparent here. This is what the notion of benchmark attempts to capture.
A benchmark is not an absolute notion. It is defined by the choice made on one of the possible definitions of "correct posture". So there is no such thing as a single correct posture, but rather correct postures for each asana.
A benchmark can vary. Once you've assimilated the posture according to a relative reference point, you can explore the variations.
There is a book that lists the "2100 yoga postures".
In this book, variations are not proposed in terms of reference points but in terms of the various positions of arms and legs, stretched or bent, twisted or not, etc.
Here, our aim is more "humble": to use a notion of benchmark to sort out the different variations in support position for a given posture, and then explore the variations.
These two steps are crucial: mastering a posture by respecting ONE reference point, and then engaging in variations based on these reference points. This avoids wandering into the completely relative: setting reference points that organize learning...
The second step is taken from the 10 principles of Anatomy Based Yoga: "VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE. OUR BODIES NEED VARIETY OF MOVEMENT."
This reframing of notions of alignment, geometry and aesthetics is also part of the more in-motion styles, although here the focus is more onelegance, a notion that incorporates other ingredients.
Aesthetics & elegance
In moving styles, geometry/alignment is of course important, but the fluidity of movement also has its own particular aesthetic.
This requires fine coordination, reflex-like body memory and particular muscular strength.
This mastery is therefore much more complex, but ultimately raises fewer fundamental questions, except in terms of possible injuries...
Dimension #2: Towards a specific goal (physical or sensational)
A posture can be performed for a specific purpose:
Physical: strengthen a particular muscle group, stretch a particular muscle.
Sensational: create a pleasant stretching sensation or relaxation after a specific effort or, more adventurously, act in some way to obtain an effect on the nervous system.
Physical purpose
For our purposes, executing the posture "correctly" will be driven by this goal. Things will be more defined.
Let's take an example: an unpleasant sensation in the wrist when you want to do a handstand (Urdva Vrkasana).
This sensation also exists in the head-down dog [Ado mukha shavasana]. "Performing the posture correctly" means finding an adaptation that changes the angle and/or the load.
For example, use supports under the hands (chair, bricks - which will shift some of the body's weight to the feet and take the strain off the wrists).
The implicit principle here is to use the load to strengthen tissues and reduce discomfort over the course of sessions.
Then, if the discomfort disappears, you'll have to increase the load by using supports that are lower and lower, and finally see the dog assume a head-down position without discomfort.
Then bring the feet closer to the hands, again to increase the load.
Throughout this protocol, we follow the Anatomy Based Yoga principle: "9. SAFE STRENGTH BUILDING COMES FROM PROGRESSIVE LOADING". (See the full list of principles here).
Sensational goal
There's no need to complicate things here: you just have to experience it for yourself.
Perform the posture according to the recommendations, pursuing the stated goal, and check for yourself whether it works for you.
Here, fortunately, everything is more experimentable and verifiable, and you'll be the judge of that...
Dimension #3: Risks & Injuries
Yoga is a low-risk activity (1.5 cases per 1000 hours of practice, 4 times less than soccer) and probably less risky than doing nothing at all.
If you don't want to hurt yourself, stay at home in bed. But that's worse for your health...
Of course, the risk of injury depends on your style of yoga (more or less dynamic or acrobatic), your background and even your genetics.
Unfortunately, the incantation of the "competent teacher" is a pipe dream.
Mainly, following the 10 principles of Anatomy Based Yoga, we scrupulously apply the rule of encouraging anyone with a condition to consult suitable doctors and physiotherapists.
In fact, 9 of these 10 principles concern this issue:
1. EVERY BODY IS UNIQUE.
2. ANY YOGA POSE CAN HARM. ANY YOGA POSE CAN HEAL.
3. MOST YOGA ASANA IS SPECIALIZED, NOT FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT.
4. "LISTEN TO YOUR BODY" WORKS ABOUT 50 % OF THE TIME.
5. CRITICAL THINKING IS CRITICAL. (BECAUSE WE CAN'T KNOW EVERYTHING.)
6. READILY REFER OUT.
7. FLEXIBILITY IS NO GOOD WITHOUT STRENGTH.
8. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE. OUR BODIES NEED VARIETY OF MOVEMENT.
9. SAFE STRENGTH BUILDING COMES FROM PROGRESSIVE LOADING.
For our purposes, i.e. what does it mean to "execute a posture correctly", let's essentially remember that we install general precautions in our class, suggest adaptations to facilitate postures and work by "proposals" based on the lessons of biomechanics (in particular that loading is the possible means of strengthening a joint, a tissue).
This is a complex subject, and one that we address in depth during our ongoing, collegial training.
A final dimension could have been "Health effects", but that will be the subject of another article, which I hope you find instructive...
In a nutshell
Correct posture is utopian, except in cases where we're looking for a specific goal or a subjective, sensational effect.
This notion of "correctitude" is therefore relative, but for us, happily relative...