Hey Everyone,
The more I learn about asana practice the more often I see somebody near me performing an asana either non energetically or in a way that will hurt them.
One example of this is in down dog when people do not do an external rotation of the biceps that goes into the shoulders. While my description may be lacking this is bio mechanically correct alignment for the shoulders.
Another example that I experienced pain in recently was while practicing virabhadrasana 2. I was on the side where my left leg was bent. A few weeks prior I had learned to keep my torso turning to the right so that it did not follow my head when I looked over my fingers. After practicing this aggressively I felt a pain in my hip join (of the bent leg). I asked my instructor later and he said what I think I discovered the next day. The problem was that I needed to externally rotate my thigh (inner thigh rolls up towards the ceiling). I have known for quite a while that you are supposed to have the knee stacked over the ankle but I think that I was doing this from my ankle and not from my thigh.
What do you see in class that most people seem to miss? Yoga is exceptionally good for your health but it is also easy to hurt yourself with when practiced incorrectly. If you could walk up to one of your classmates today what advice would you give them?
Best
Ryan