Align with Natalie

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Natalie Shaw
Level 5 Soft tissue therapist
RYT 250 - Yoga Alliance
Hatha | Vinyasa | Yin | Hot | Chair | 1:1

- Soft Tissue Clinic & 1:1 Yoga space -
Align with Natalie, Ogbourne St George, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1SQ

20/09/2026

WHY DON’T MY HEELS TOUCH?

If your heels don’t reach the floor in Downward-Facing Dog, it doesn’t automatically mean you’re “tight” — or that you need to stretch more.

For your heels to move towards the floor, your ankle needs to move into dorsiflexion: bringing the top of your foot closer towards your shin.

But how much dorsiflexion you have can be influenced by multiple factors, including:
• muscle length
• ankle mobility
• individual joint and bone structure
• previous injury or restriction
• the position of the rest of your body

So there isn’t necessarily one simple answer — or one thing you need to “fix”.

Forcing your heels down isn’t automatically going to give you more useful range either.

If your heels naturally hover, that may simply be where your available range is in that position.

And if you want to change your available dorsiflexion, that’s a different question.

Before assuming you need to stretch your calves, it helps to understand what is actually limiting the movement.

Because the goal isn’t to make your Down Dog look like someone else’s - We all have different bodies, structures and ranges.

Your heels don’t need to touch the ground





15/09/2026

Balance challenge? Try changing your Drishti.

Drishti: A deliberate direction or point of gaze used in yoga practice. It can give the eyes — and our attention — somewhere to land.

Try these in a familiar asana (shape) and notice what happens…

→ Fixed gaze — holding the eyes on one point
→ Moving gaze — allowing the gaze to follow the movement
→ Shifting gaze — changing the visual reference while staying in a balance

Same pose. Different gaze.

Where do you feel solid?
Where do you wobble?
What does that tell you about your practice?

Give it a try and let me know what you notice…

Asana in reel:
Virabhadrasana I — Warrior I
Virabhadrasana II — Warrior II
Viparita Virabhadrasana — Reverse Warrior
Anjaneyasana — Crescent
Vrikshasana — Tree

10/09/2026

We spend so much time wanting to know what comes next, we often miss what’s happening now.

You can take the next step without knowing exactly where it will lead. You can let go without knowing exactly where you’ll land.

Trust yourself.
Trust where you are.
Trust that you don’t need all the answers.

Trust the process. 🤍

04/09/2026

Sometimes, it’s not about making the movement more complicated.

It’s about having the control to explore it. 🧘‍♀️

01/09/2026

Why are my toes twitching in Pincha?

I started noticing this and became fascinated by what my body was actually doing.

When we re-learn (or learn) a movement, our brain is constantly taking in information about where our body is in space and making tiny adjustments to keep us balanced.

Those little twitches and movements can be part of that constant search for balance and control — your body figuring out how much effort is needed, where, and when.

This is where proprioception comes in: our ability to sense where our body is and how it’s moving without having to look at it.

Learning doesn’t always look smooth.
Remember, the messy bits are part of the process.

And maybe that’s the bit we don’t see enough of — the actual process of learning.

So I’m learning to be a little less bothered by the twitchy toes… and a little more interested in what they’re telling me. 🫶

31/08/2026

A little glimpse of life in Morocco 🌞

Salty hair, amazing food, beautiful people, the warm sea breeze — and of course, plenty of yoga

Somewhere between teaching, practising, surfing and working on my own projects, I’ve settled into a rhythm here.

Feeling very grateful for this little chapter 🫶

29/08/2026

Feeling “tight” doesn’t always mean a muscle is physically short.

The sensation of tightness is real — but what’s influencing your range of motion can be much more complex.

Your movement can be influenced by things like:
→ passive stiffness
→ nervous system sensitivity
→ strength
→ motor control
→ familiarity with the movement
→ fatigue
→ how the tissue is being loaded

Which is why repeatedly stretching the same area doesn’t always create the change you’re looking for.

Sometimes, the better question isn’t:

“How can I stretch this further?”

but:

“What is actually limiting this movement?”

This is the beginning of looking at stretching a little differently.

27/08/2026

A little piece of my morning practice in Morocco 🇲🇦

After months of having to rethink how I move, it feels good to just move.

No particular goal. No perfect sequence. Just exploring, playing, getting stronger and seeing what feels good in my body, today.



Child’s Pose with side stretch — Bālāsana

Opens: the side body — particularly the lats, intercostals and obliques.

Gently lengthens the spine and creates lateral flexion, while the hips remain in flexion.

→ A lovely way to bring awareness to the spaces between the ribs and into the side body.

Rolling Cobra — Bhujangāsana

Opens: the front body, particularly chest, abdomen and hip flexors.

Moves the spine through extension, while the rolling element encourages fluid spinal movement rather than holding one fixed position.

→ Mobilises the spine and opens the front of the body.

Broken Wing

Opens: chest, anterior shoulder and upper arm, with some rotation through the thoracic spine.

Combines shoulder positioning with spinal rotation.

→ Creates space across the front of the shoulder and chest.

Sphinx — Sālamba Bhujangāsana

Opens: front body and chest, with gentle opening through the abdomen.

Creates supported spinal extension and encourages movement into the thoracic/lumbar spine.

→ A gentler backbend that wakes up the posterior chain while opening the front body.

Single-leg twist from Sphinx

Opens: side body, abdomen and hip flexor region.

Combines spinal rotation and extension, creating movement through both the spine and hip.

→ A nice transition from simply opening the spine into exploring rotation.

Locust + block pass — Śalabhāsana

Opens: the front of the shoulders and chest as the arms travel overhead/back.

Strengthens the back body — spinal extensors, glutes and hamstrings — while challenging shoulder mobility and coordination.

→ As we lift, we strengthen the posterior chain — the muscles that support us from behind — while opening through the anterior chain, the front of the body.

Toe squat + back bind — Prapada Āsana variation

Opens: the front of the ankles and feet through deep plantarflexion, while the b

22/08/2026

Upside down 🙃

First headstand since June (pre-injury) — and what better place to do it than on a beach in Morocco!

It felt shaky, unstable, heavy — and nowhere near as effortless as I remember it.

I’ve spent the last few weeks gradually loading my hamstring again, figuring out what feels good, what doesn’t, and resisting the very strong urge to just push through and crack on as normal.

There are movements you don’t realise you’ve missed until you finally trust your body enough to do them again.

This is Tapas in action — the discipline to keep showing up, even when the thing you’re working towards feels frustratingly far away.

Not forcing it.
Not rushing it.
Just doing the work.

And although I’m not where I was, it felt pretty bloody good 🤍

Until November 🇲🇦As I head off to Morocco today, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has moved, breath...
18/08/2026

Until November 🇲🇦

As I head off to Morocco today, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has moved, breathed, practised and shared space with me over the last few years 🤍

To my yoga community — my sangha — thank you for showing up, for your energy, your honesty, your curiosity and for everything you bring to each class. It’s never just about the practice on the mat; it’s the people we meet, the space we create and the feeling of being part of something together

And to every one of my soft tissue clients, thank you for trusting me with your bodies. It’s a privilege to work with you, hear your stories, help you understand your bodies a little better and be part of your journey.

I am so grateful for this community!

For the next few months, I’ll be teaching in Morocco — a change of environment, a shift in perspective, and a chance to reconnect with my favourite element : water 🌊

I’ll be back in November and I can’t wait to see you all then 🫶

Natalie x

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Align With Natalie, Ogbourne Street George
Marlborough
SN81SQ

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 8pm
Thursday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday 9am - 12pm
Sunday 9am - 12pm

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