Who Needs Big Brother?

Me on the iPad

     Last night I made an interesting experiment.  I have always wondered what I look like when I do yoga.  I've spent the last 9 years demonstrating, but have never really been sure it was clear.  I finally figured out how to know.  I set the iPad up on the floor next to me as I practiced.  Now the bad part was that the iPad is angled, so I had a triple chin and my belly was huge, but I noticed some very interesting (and reassuring) things.
     First a caution, watching yourself is not for the faint of heart.  You will be surprised how often you fall down, grunt, pant and possibly curse, but what we are looking for is the overall picture.  The thing that I found the most reinforcing was how my downward dog just kept improving as the practice went on.  In each pose, with each adjustment I was both marshaling my energy and expanding outward.
      I also noticed easy fixes for poses that feel problematic.  In my cat-cow, the heads of my arm bones are rolled forward. In today's practice, rolling them out and back felt so much better.  In standing poses, bend the front knee more, in eagle pose (garudasana), sit down further.  All of these changes were so easy and really improved my practice. It let me be my own teacher.
     Now don't go overboard and tape each practice.  A home practice is about inner correction and knowing, but sometimes, an outside perspective can help.