Do you ever look back at old yoga photos and think to yourself, “that’s a lovely photograph, but that is less than lovely alignment.”

Maybe you don’t have yoga photos, which I guess this sounds totally weird if you don’t.

But that’s me when I look at the picture below.

Bless 2017 Sam’s heart. She’s got great lift in that dancer, but she’s opened up those hips. Tisk tisk.

Of course, I drench that statement in grace and good humor.

I included a “better” aligned dancer below from 2018 if you want to see the difference/what I mean.

In the first picture, my right hip is lifted up, essentially facing the camera, allowing my foot to come higher. In the second picture, both hips point down toward the mat; they’re “square” and in line with one another. Which is where they’re “supposed” to be.

I add “quotations” around some of the words here, because there is room for debate about this among yogis, in this pose in particular, with this specific shift of alignment.

But to get where I personally want to go in this pose, and in order honor my primary line of energy, the alignment of my hip is very important, and needs to be square.

So I’m going to say that, today, I’m super super thankful for my YTT (yoga teacher training) and just having really great teachers in general.

I’m thankful for learning and growth and progress. And practice.

Because practice and all is coming.