Mobility, Stability & Alignment

When we are in motion, the body is moving. At the same time, the body is working to maintain balance and not topple over. This is an ongoing dance, be it during walking, standing up or sitting down, engaging in a sport, playing, even resting. (If you have ever fallen asleep while sitting on a seat, how did your body respond?)

The body maintains balance based on what you see (visual input), where you sense your body is in space (proprioceptive input), and a complex system located in our inner ears (vestibular input). How does this balance system work? VEDA (Vestibular Disorders Association) answers the question here.

In yoga practice this dance of mobility and stability is even more pronounced as the body flows into a pose, settles in, then eventually flows out of the pose. The pose, of which the transitions are an integral part, requires movement combined with stability so the body can safely segue during asana practice.

My teachers from Experiential Anatomy (from which the above quote comes) noted that stability comes before mobility. Find your footing, find your stable grounding, find your balance. It is from this stability that you can then move freely with grace, with flow, with security in knowing you come from a position of strength.

There is another part to this dance. Alignment. Paula Heitzner, one of my 200-hour teacher training teachers said:

Alignment is the place you come home to so you can leave again.

Alignment is what keeps joints safe. Proper alignment protects and supports when in various yoga poses. It is what helps keep the body upright and the neck, shoulders and upper back comfortable. Alignment is the stacking of bones and joints for optimum support. Alignment is honoring the back’s natural curves.

Stability comes before mobility, and in concert with alignment. True stability requires the joints to be aligned. This provides prime safety and support to the body. Alignment does not necessitate a straight line, for the spine is not straight; it has numerous natural curves.

Find your standing position. Scan your body. What is your alignment? Explore making gentle, small movements to stack knees over ankles, hips over knees, shoulders over hips, ears over shoulders, crown of head lengthening towards the sky, fingertips floating towards the earth.

Based on your anatomy and the natural curves of your spine, this may or may not be feasible for you, and that is fine. This is meant to be an exploration, a noticing of what your body’s alignment is in a standing position. Another exploration, one that might cause a few smiles or grimaces of realization, is to find your regular position of sitting.

Sit on a chair. Notice how you situate your body. Are your hips higher, level or lower than your knees? What is your back doing? How are your head and neck positioned? Where are your shoulders? Do you find yourself in the same or different posture when you are seated having a conversation, using a digital device, reading, looking out the window? How does your seated alignment correspond to your standing alignment?