From Myth to Movement Positivity - A new approach to yoga asana

There is a web of warnings embedded in ideas about asana alignment that affect how we practice & teach. Many of these ideas I have believed myself and passed on (sorry!), but the more I study movement science the more I realise we are free to move in so many ways and that the warnings are not only unhelpful but potentially harmful or “nociceptive”.

Definition & relevance of Nociception

The nerve cell endings that act as sensory receptors and perceive any threat of pain - whether mechanical, thermal or chemical, and relay this information to the central nervous system.

The significance of this is that the nociceptors pick up the THREAT of pain. So before any tissue damage has occurred, and whether or not it does go on to occur, the nervous system is primed to feel pain. This means that changes have already taken place in the body and in the mind.

If we fear pain, we tend to stiffen and draw away quickly, our heart rate goes up. We may even already feel new pain, or other existing ailments speak louder.

The relevance? As yoga teachers, if we use language that suggest the body is inherently weak, vulnerable, at risk of failure, then this information is perceived as a threat, through the process of nociception.

The more we give warnings about the best way to move the more likely our students are to feel pain. Since pain is not a simple response to input, but is always interpreted by the brain, we want to give positive messages about the body. Messages that are entirely in keeping with scientific understanding.

Movement Positive

There are many areas of research that lend themselves to the creation of a whole new movement perspective - movement positivity, which describes how we are so much better off moving than not, and that we do not benefit from being prescriptive about how we move. For example research into back pain has shown that we do not in most cases need specific movement protocols but instead to just get moving!

The benefits of moving vastly outweigh the dangers of not moving in the following areas:

Mental health - creation of feel good hormones from moving
Cardiovascular health
Weight management
Bone health
Maintaining mobility and muscle mass

We are living through an epidemic of obesity, of non- communicative disease like diabetes, and any movement is beneficial. Since yoga can be relatively accessible it’s so important to move away from fear mongering and encourage our students and more students to move.

Creating more accessible classes fits in here, I’ll leave that for another day.

Moving on from old ideas

Here are four key things about the body which mean we do not need to worry, but which often have formed the basis of selling yoga and other “cures”.

Posture

Good posture, as in the military upright pose, came into fashion from the 1750s, before this it was trendy for the nobility to slouch - because they could afford to! Surprisingly, slouching is not associated with poor spine health, or other negative effects. Rather it seems that we impose moral and asesthetic values onto posture. So that it is fashionable to be upright, shoulders back etc.

Core stability

We do not need to hug the naval to spine, or in any way brace ourselves for forward folds or other movement. We are better off feeling a responsive core come on as we move and to encourage this with varied movement. For heavy weight lifting there may be a case to use a “hollow” method to contract the abs. But in yoga its simply not necessary since we work under such low “load” both in terms of speed and mass or weight, our own body weight.

Pelvic alignment

Research has debunked the idea that anterior pelvic tilt related to back pain, I found this one hard to believe at first. But the research currently shows no correlation between any more incidence of pain in those with anterior tilt to those with a more neutral pelvis.

Additionally 75% of people have anterior tilt, but not back pain! So we just don’t need to worry about it.

We don’t always want to force a neutral pelvis. This forcing of the body into one static pose can itself be problematic, the pelvis is meant to move as it is the fulcrum of the body with everything passing through. We need to move the pelvis to facilitate healthy organ function, pelvic floor muscles and strength.

Similarly for pelvic floor contraction we may want to sometimes have neutral pelvis, but pelvic muscles like any other want to express a full range of motion.

So once more we don't need to manage the alignment of the pelvis in every posture for students, or pathologise it!

Alignment vs load

Yoga has emphasised the ideal alignment, perhaps based more on aesthetics than science eg. knee above ankle in warrior. Interestingly “misalignment” offers a greater potential for strengthening different tissues of the body when appropriate, since the muscles/ bones/ tendons etc. respond to weight bearing or “load”.

So counter to much yoga alignment which restricts the ways in which we move, we may want to become more familiar with new ways to add different movements. A study of biomechanics and its application to the body can help us to understand how different parameters can improve the health of the body.

In conclusion

As an asana teacher or trainee your role is to encourage movement or stillness without pathologising the body, without making people frightened to move.

The more movement positive we are the more students can feel free and empowered to practice.

Of course, every case is different and if someone has an acute injury then we need caution. But in the case of chronic pain again, research suggests doing something new is generally going to be the better option, since it provides new input to the nervous system which is a driver of the pain.

If the student comes with fear of movement or is in pain we can be reassuring - let them know it is up to them how much they do, we need alternative movements to help them feel safe. They may have a whole history of receiving nociceptive idea from medics/physios/movement teachers. So we don’t have to change anyone’s ideas or challenge them.

It can also be a great idea to know a physio you can refer to who IS practicing with an up to date understanding of pain science/nociception etc.

We can move away from the teacher as expert dynamic, into empowering the students with a more trauma sensitive approach and offer an asana practice which integrates relevant and more accurate ideas about the body and mind.

Yoga does not need to be done perfectly to be beneficial, each person will look different and that’s perfect!

It’s time for an honest and compassionate approach to yoga and movement, and this might involve revising ideas in ways that feel challenging and strange. But it will be worth it!