For our 52nd episode, I sat down with Alexandria Crow. Alexandria is an internationally respected teachers’ teacher who leads teacher trainings and workshops around the world. Through her Yoga Physics methodology, her in-person continuing education workshops and online DeConstruct to ReConstruct Course, as well as her 300 hour teacher intensive, she aims to clearly explain the what, why’s and how’s of asana, meditation and yogic philosophy making the practice approachable for everyone, of every level and of every walk of life.

As a former competitive gymnast, she fell in love with yoga but through a series of significant and unforeseen injuries her practice and teaching has dramatically evolved to focus on sustainability and accessibility.

Listen to the full episode here :

5 BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM THIS EPISODE

1. We have to stop being afraid to do what is wise for us instead of what we were told was the advanced pose. Be skillful and let go of the rules. Investigate and make an informed decision instead of relying on the “pre-fab” variation of the pose.
2. When we look at the value of challenging poses, ask yourself “Who would you be without (pose you’re striving for)? / Why do I want to learn that? What do I think what I’ll get out of it.?”
3. Being a very advanced student doesn’t make you a very good teacher automatically. Look for a teacher that empowers you to be able to practice on your own, that understands the practice than can verbalize and articulate why you’re doing what you’re doing. Look for a teacher that tries to educate instead or demonstrate.
4. Meditative contemplative practices are not to stop the mind, they are used to create space, to understand that you are not your thoughts, that not everything they say is true, that you’re not even responsible for a lot of them (they arise from habit, conditioned behavior and even just out of the ether), t’s about being able to sit, watch and feel what they do to your body, how they create your choices and actions and being able to step back as the witness instead of being dictated by them.
5. Non-attachment is not about being detached from everything, it’s about observing your relationship with everything and it’s state of impermanence, and seeing how that relationship might create suffering in your life.

QUESTIONS SHE ANSWERED DURING THIS EPISODE

• What is yoga? How do you define the practice?
• How can the poses help us the goal of the practice?
• Why did you create the Asana Lab?
• How do you balance choosing the most appropriate variation and not always staying in your comfort zone?
• What’s the value in working towards really challenging poses in your opinion?
• There is pressure as a teacher to be able to do the fancy poses, teach the challenging poses, how can we bring the point of yoga across in public classes without that? How do we keep it salable/profitable
• Often times, with IG, there’s this assumption that a teacher that has a strong physical practice will automatically be a good teacher… How can a student make the difference?
• What’s the place of the other limbs of yoga in our modern western classes?
• Can you comment on these concepts :

• The fluctuation of the mind
• Effort and ease
• Permanence/Impermanence
• Duality and union/illusion
• Non-attachment

• 10. How can we as students refine our participation, our understanding of the practice, and as teachers encourage our students to do so?

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ABOUT OUR GUEST

Alexandria is an internationally respected teachers’ teacher who leads teacher trainings and workshops around the world. Through her Yoga Physics methodology she aims to clearly explain the what, why’s and how’s of asana, meditation and yogic philosophy making the practice approachable for everyone, of every level and of every walk of life. Her in-person continuing education workshops and online DeConstruct to ReConstruct Course, as well as her 300-hour teacher intensive train teachers to be better informed on yogic philosophy and history, the physical mechanics of the body and how to apply that knowledge to asana, as well as how to ethically lead group classes that are accessible and sensitive to all. Her Yoga Physics mentorship program is helping teachers build on their strengths while discovering their own unique voices.

Years of research, scientific inquiry, self-inquiry/scrutiny, development and integration have gone into Alex’s work. The result is an evolved set of techniques and approaches that eliminate the problematic components of physical asana practices and group classes while providing an in-depth understanding of how individual teachers situate themselves within these dynamics. The class formats and teaching tools that Alex offers are sustainable and accessible for anyone that wants to take class regardless of circumstance and that teaches yoga’s philosophy in real-time in an experiential way.

Alex’s emphasis on paying attention and her insistence on each individual respecting their own uniqueness encourages them to love and celebrate who they are. It’s this love of their own unique perfection that creates true change in her students so they can connect with more grace to themselves, to others and to the world.

Find out more about her :

Her website

Instagram @alexandriacrowyoga