Yoga teachers often feel responsible to protect their students from injury during their classes. This is a big reason why many focus on guiding proper alignment during practice. But how much does alignment really protect students from injury? And are misunderstandings about safety, pain, and discomfort actually causing more harm to our students than good? In this must-listen episode, my guest Dr. Libby Hinsley sheds light on the relationship between alignment and safety.

Want to promote body autonomy in your classes but aren’t sure what that looks like? Featuring Dr. Libby Hinsley, this episode covers ways that yoga teachers may be unintentionally hindering body autonomy for their students and strategies for making your classes a self-empowering space for your students.

Let’s talk about alignment. Some teachers center their entire teaching technique around alignment, while others argue that it does more harm than good and that students should be encouraged to explore asanas in a more open-ended way. In this episode, Mado shares how her own relationship to the concept of alignment has evolved over the past 20 years and her thoughts about how alignment can be both useful and potentially harmful.

What are some ways to help a student with a hip labral tear? In this episode, Dr. Libby Hinsley explains how a hip labral tears can affect a yoga asana practice and how to support students who have them while staying in your scope of practice.

Should we modify spinal flexion for osteoporosis? Osteoporosis affects approximately 20% of women over the age of 50 and increases the risk of bone fractures. In this episode, Dr. Libby Hinsley and I continue our 3 part mini-series highlighting common medical conditions.