When Alex Crow and I hopped on Skype, I hadn’t realized she was one of the two HardTail gals. If you haven’t been subscribed to Yoga Journal over the past decade, you won’t recognize her side view or backside in various Level 3 poses — but those of us who have been definitely would!

In this conversation with Alex, you can eavesdrop on us two seasoned Yoga teachers discussing the evolution of the practice and why it’s important to find a balance that isn’t so intense that it causes injury. Alex went through some ashtanga-based injuries before slowing her practice way down and teaching in her own integrity, and she has some tips for Yoga studios about this, too.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• The importance of deconstructing the physicality that goes into Yoga practice
• What to do to reconnect with and rediscover our personal rhythms and what we’re attuning to
• The power dynamics and structure of Yoga classes, and why uniformity should never be the end goal of a class

I rap with Alexandria Crow about Evolving Your Yoga Practice (+ Your Yoga Teaching):

• Why sedentary lifestyles and intense practice can both lead to injury
• Where advanced teachers start co-creating experiences with their students
• Tips for Yoga studios that aren’t serving advanced students or teachers
• How to teach with personal integrity

Links:

• YogaPhysics
• Body Thrive Book
• Yoga Health Coaching Conversation

Show Highlights:

• 5:18 — Alexandria explains what happens in her classroom that’s different from what you might commonly find in a Yoga group — and how it led to some revelations about the need to lessen practice-related injuries.
• 8:30 — It’s not good to be completely dependent on a teacher. We need freedom in our practice, and students do too. Codependency isn’t part of svatantrya!
• 13:15 — We need to look to the co-creative and nurture the skills that allow us to give feedback. We can’t get this from practicing at home alone, and it’s an important reason why people attend classes. They feel much more like a part of something when they helped create it.
• 15:30 — What’s happening for Yoga students can vary greatly based on their generations. Younger generations are consuming so much info via social media, but what’s happening for practitioners in their 50s and 60s looks really different.
• 22:37 — There are people who are willing to admit there are issues with what we’re doing as a collective group of Yoga practitioners. But they’re not willing to go further than that. We need to let these old issues die and replace them with something new.
• 27:20 — It’s important to encourage personal exploration of what will work holistically to help students find healing.

Favorite Quotes

• “Energy into matter can change any time I want it to.” -Alexandria Crow
• “I’m not heavily identified with being an injured person.” -Alexandria Crow
• “What would it take to recapture you?” -Alexandria Crow
• “It’s scary to people to think about shifting things.” -Alexandria Crow
• “You have to figure out you.” – Alexandria Crow

BIO:

Alexandria Crow’s Yoga experience has been a journey of transformation that has led to self-acceptance and a sense of ease with herself and the world around her. The physical challenges of a rigorous Yoga asana practice initially provided a natural familiarity for this former competitive gymnast. Through injury and inquiry, her practice and teaching have evolved toward sustainability. The study of Yogic philosophies has given her tools she uses to approach life with steadiness. Her practice has taught her the importance of accessing the present moment and how our thoughts are not always accurate representations of who each of us is at the source. With this clarity, she’s able to live life with more ease.

Alex is an internationally respected teachers’ teacher who leads trainings and workshops around the world. Through her Yoga Physics methodology, she aims to explain in the simplest terms the whats, whys, and hows of asana, meditation, and Yogic philosophies — making the practice approachable for everyone at every level and every walk of life. She shares this knowledge with her students and other teachers so they can practice and teach wisely, sustainably, and mindfully. Her continuing education workshops train teachers to be better informed on Yogic philosophies, the physical mechanics of the body, and how they all apply to asana. Her Yoga Physics mentorship program helps teachers build on their strengths and develop their weaknesses while discovering their own unique voices.