Sivananda as pop culture practice

With all respect to the practice, Sivananda resembles the popular yoga culture we are currently seeing. By now, we all know that the origins of yoga were not those that included postures, or physical practice. Yoga was used as a sacrifice to God only to be used by the chosen yogis. Yoga was a ritual that consumed the entire life of a yogi and those who chose to follow him.

Sivananda is another form of postural yoga practiced primarily in the west. One thing that Jen mentioned is what really made me think that this is what people are practicing when they think of yoga. She said, "Sivananda does not focus on the alignment, or the shape of your back in the pose". Throughout my practice I've learned that improper posture can cause a lot of physical pain and will allow you to benefit from the practice.

When Jen said this to me. I immediately looked at my professor. All I know is flattening my back. Stretching the proper way. My professor said Sivananda was her original practice. I'm curious as to why she stopped.

I know that I felt powerful in some of the inversions, but every time, whether I was told to or not, I was focusing on my alignment, on how my back felt against my hips, how my toes felt against the ground. I was focused on making sure my shoulders were in between my ribs.

I have a great teacher.

While alignment is not focused in many physical fitness regimes, it is not surprising that pop cultural yoga also may not focus on proper structures also. Rather, we see how we can bend and hold our bodies and push ourselves to a limit. We see if we can be better than who we were the day before. Most of us.
Others just really like how they look in yoga pants.