Aligning the spine in yoga

I attended the 6 p.m. yoga class, which Baxter normally teaches. I forgot he is in Costa Rica this week for a yoga retreat.
Dominick was the sub. I like Dominick’s teaching style and he is funny. But his class starts at 4:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays. So I can rarely go. But I do enjoy when he subs one of my regular classes.
Today Dominick focused on the spine and back.
Focusing on the back/spine/alignment is always good for me. I have bad posture, kyphosis, weak back muscles, not the strongest core, low back pain and a strong lower back arch.
Dominick talked to us about the natural alignment of our spines. He had us hold full forward bend. And then half way up with blocks under our hands to help us really focus on keeping the back straight.
We also focused on hinging at the waist instead of rolling the back down. This also helps keep the back straight and engaged.
Every pose we performed today we focused on the alignment of the back and our breathing through the front and then down the back. We held the poses much longer while focusing on alignment and breathing.
Another aspect to help with the back and keep the back strong is a strong core. So, of course, we did some intense core work.
Dominick reminded us that we did some intense work on our backs and used muscles we don’t normally use. So there is a chance we will have sore backs tomorrow or Wednesday.