The Yoga Selfie

Yoga photos are not just fun for social media purposes; they are actually a great way to track progress and find alignment without relying on a mirror. When practicing yoga, it is important to feel the pose and engage through all necessary muscle groups. However, sometimes this can be tough if you can’t see yourself and notice subtle alignment changes.

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        Before practicing on one specific pose, it’s important to warm up first. Practicing a well rounded yoga flow before focusing one or two peak poses will help warm up the body and prepare it for more in depth poses. I’ve personally been working on my Forearm Stand, (pinchamayurasana in Sanskrit) and filming my progress has been extremely helpful. Prior to capturing my practice, I had a hard time to recognizing when my back was rounding. Once I began filming, it became obvious what I needed to fix and I was able to track my practice.

        You don’t need any fancy photography equipment to track your practice. Any smart phone with a camera works great! You can use the video app that comes with your phone, or you can download one of the many apps available for video recording. There are also tons of tripods made specifically for iPhones and other smart phones. This will keep your video steady while filming, and if you happen to have any pets, it will keep them from knocking over your phone. (We all know how curious out pets become when we step onto our mats!)

        If purchasing equipment is not for you, yoga blocks work great for mounting cameras. I’ve used my yoga blocks to hold up my iPhone many times, and it works great. You can place the phone on one block, and use the other on a higher setting so it has something to rest against.

        There will never be a substitute for learning a pose- the best way will always be to get into your body and feel, but it’s natural to be curious about what your body may look like in all these beautiful shapes. There is also a large community of yogis out there who love to share their progress and learnings with others, so jump in and join the conversation – you never know what you might have to offer!

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Morgan Gertler Pirog
Writer/Dreamer: Creating Things of Enduring Value 
Morgan is a believer that positive thoughts will lead to positive actions. She found yoga several years ago and was immediately drawn to the unification of body, breath & mind. Her other loves include her husband, her pit bull mix Jagger and mermaids.  
morgan.gertler@gmail.com