In early March, I called to sign up for Maty Ezraty’s workshop at Yogaview. Even though it was still months away, there was only one space remaining.
The workshop, May 18–22, was a five-day teacher intensive that primarily focused on alignment. Maty is a prominent figure in the evolution of modern yoga. She was one of the first women to study Ashtanga yoga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and also one of the original founders of YogaWorks in Santa Monica, California. In addition to having a dedicated Ashtanga practice for more than 25 years, Maty has also devoted more than 27 years to studying with many senior Iyengar teachers. Her attention to detail and passion for turning students and teachers on to the transformational power of the asana practice is truly unparalleled in the yoga culture today.
In a packed room at Yogaview, it took me some time to acclimate to Maty’s spunky, direct, matter-of-fact approach to teaching. I immediately noticed, however, that she treated everyone equally—giving students the same attention whether they were seasoned teachers or new ones. This meant that she found ways for everyone to fine-tune their alignment.
Maty said more than once that she wanted us to work smarter and quieter, not harder. Also, she emphasized relaxing the ujjayi breath so that it wasn’t as loud as many people make it; breathing loudly blocks students from feeling what’s happening in the body. “Use a soft, subtle, and smooth breath,” she said.
Maty encouraged students to stop fidgeting and find stillness in all the poses. Although it was a basic instruction, I realized that I find small ways to fidget in my poses. Fidgeting distracts me from challenges, restlessness, and discomfort in poses. Next time you are in a pose, notice your fidgets—it may surprise you.
During the five-day intensive, we learned that when we practice in a specific way over several years, we develop patterns that our bodies grow accustomed to and comfortable with. We may be strong in certain areas but weak in others. Maty’s precise alignment cues often had the room quietly quivering and there was a collective breath of relief when we exited a pose.
Maty’s workshop reminded me of the importance of studying with a variety of teachers with different backgrounds. Senior teachers and longtime practitioners are comfortable with what they know. Maty’s workshop definitely challenged me to step into new and unfamiliar territory.
Maty emphasized the importance of foundation, or what is in contact with the floor. Students were instructed to build poses from the ground up. Specifically, she stressed the need to ensure that the foundation is aligned before working with other areas of the body. For example, tadasansa (standing mountain pose) is the blueprint pose for alignment in all standing poses.
The practices were delightfully slow, intentional, and strong. Maty said she gives alignment cues to help her students go inward and calm the mind. “Focusing on alignment is not to make you perfect,” she said.
Throughout the workshop, Maty taught that advanced yogis are those who know how to take care of themselves and use props as often as possible. Her Iyengar background was reflected in her use of props in almost every pose we did. She discussed the fallacy that the use of props in our current yoga culture translates into not being a good enough yogi. She challenged us teachers to shatter that myth in our next class by making sure that everyone in class is using a prop instead of making prop use optional.
Tom Quinn, owner of Yogaview, described Maty’s teaching this way: “Her overall approach of breaking the asana practice down to its most precise and fundamental aspect is extremely powerful. Her teachings direct the student to step back to the foundational level of the posture and work from there with full passion and commitment before moving ahead to more complexity. In our goal-oriented society, this approach can be very challenging, as it requires extreme vigilance and patience. Being with Maty, one truly experiences the benefits from this approach through increased strength and openness, and clarity of mind provided in the safe vessel of intelligent asana.”
While we learned many alignment principles, three in particular could potentially change the way I teach and practice certain poses.
We spent a lot of time in lunges. She directed students to press down on the inner heel of the front foot and to draw the rear heel back. This helps firm the side of the front hip. It also gets you out of sinking into the front hip and activates the quadricep of the front leg. Lunges and virabhadrasana (warrior) variations felt like different poses with that cue.
Another cue was to move the tips of the shoulder blades from the back body forward and to lift the sternum from the inside of the body. This elevates the body leading from the neck, then collapsing into the lower back, and creates mobility and space in the thoracic region of the spine.
Her suggestion to imagine that one is in adho mukha vrksasana (handstand) when practicing plank pose helped me focus on the strength in the pose, and it helped prevent collapsing in the shoulders and rounding the upper back. She directed us to move the buttocks towards the heel and to widen the back of the legs, which was also helpful. In most poses, she referenced the arms doing adho mukha vrksasana, which created a lot of heat and strength in the poses.
Cindy Issac, who traveled from Afghanistan to continue her studies with Maty, said this about her experience with her over the years:
“I have immensely benefited from studying under Maty. She has taught me the importance of slowing down how I practice and teach yoga in order to allow for the time needed to find the alignment, and, ultimately, the lines of energy within asana poses. She has also humbled my own practice, where I now use more props and do simpler poses rather than egotistically attempting advanced poses. This is the same with the classes I teach—learning to do less, but more.”
Maty offered many pithy tips that you can’t hear too many times regardless of how long you’ve been teaching or practicing yoga:
- Don’t make the pose so difficult. Find ease in the pose.
- Doing things longer with detail makes you pay attention differently.
- Don’t miss the journey.
- Savor the moment coming out of the asana.
- Take time to pause.
But two of Maty’s comments captured the essence of my experience during her intensive at Yogaview:
“Practicing yoga is a privilege. And with this privilege comes a duty to be kind, to share a smile, and to offer the yoga from the mat into the rest of your life.”
“These postures don’t define you, and they have nothing to do with your spiritual growth. What is important is that you develop a good relationship with yourself on the mat.”
Thank you, Maty.
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Carly Carney is the director of Beverly Yoga Center, 1917 W. 103rd Street, Chicago, which is celebrating its tenth year. For more information, vsit beverlyyogacenter.com.
