The Practice of Alignment: Why Haia is More Than Movement

The insight that came in the middle of the night answered my ongoing question: what could I be sharing on the Haia platforms that will have depth and will touch hearts? I really feel like there is a line that I am walking with Haia—do we stay close to our roots and the intention behind Haia, or do we fade into the noise of all the Pilates studios?

Of course I want us to break through the pack, and what came up was very clear and sincere: Alignment.

Why is alignment so important and why is it at the heart of Haia as a practice? Because Haia really is a practice.

For me, a practice is something that one can come back to again and again that holds a container for transformation, processing, and reflection. It is something that we, from a space of devotion, give our time to so that we may emerge with skills and tools that give us the means to live with more awareness, peace, and relational intelligence. It is a container that supports you exactly as you are and gives you the tools to find yourself in a world that is constantly pulling your attention outward, away from the vast and potent inner world that lies within.

Some call it prayer, meditation, dance, writing, movement. There are so many practices, and the beauty is that it's not what you do in the practice—it's your willingness to show up for the practice itself, for yourself, day upon day, that makes a practice so.

Haia stands apart because it is built on three foundational pillars: Alignment, Breath, and Attention.

Take a moment to contemplate the nature of a plastic cup. In its most normal and perfect form, it holds water effortlessly. However, if the cup is dented or crinkled, the water takes the shape of the cup, but the amount of water the cup can hold changes depending on how bent out of shape it is. Over time, the dented cup might even get a small crack or leak, and the water would simply leak out.

Now, think of your body as a cup, a vessel. Your cup's ability to hold your water—your energy, life force, breath—is contingent on your body having structural integrity, or correct anatomical alignment. In our current reality as humans, we spend a lot of time bending our cups out of shape. On a purely physical level, we sit extensively in ways that damage our posture severely, often without even knowing we're doing it. Then we attend fitness classes that reinforce the same postural habits.

We find ourselves unknowingly creating dents in our cup while simultaneously trying to fill it up. We wonder why our body has pain, why we feel emotionally drained, and why our body isn't functioning the way we need it to. Of course we feel exhausted—our cup has gradually lost its shape and struggles to hold our life force.

When we understand that we unknowingly created these dents, we also hold the power to restore our vessel's shape. It's not about perfection—it's about integrity. A vessel that has integrity goes the distance, and more importantly, it remembers that it was never truly broken, just temporarily bent out of shape.

The love for alignment is really simple: when each part of the body is being used for its intended purpose, life flows effortlessly, breath flows freely without force, and your energy is spent on enjoying being alive. When your bones are in their intended shape, your organs have room to function properly, your glands have space to do their work, and your nervous system can communicate clearly throughout your body.

It's incredible to watch how just by shifting people's posture, their whole life starts to change. When your physical foundation is solid, your body becomes capable of holding attention without effort. You become alert and present to your decisions, your emotions, your experiences—not because alignment creates perfect emotions, but because a structurally sound vessel can contain whatever life brings without collapsing under the pressure. Think about it: when you're hunched over and compressed, even small stresses feel overwhelming. But when your body has integrity, you can meet intensity without falling apart.

This brings us to the power of attention. A vessel that holds healthy boundaries, where breath and life flow, naturally draws attention inward. Your attention is the most valuable currency in the world, which is why every single company and piece of technology is fighting to capture and keep it. The trillion-dollar question is: what does your continuity depend on?

When you align your vessel, allow life to move through it, and allow your attention to be truly present, you come alive. In this flow state, you realize that you were created for more than the life we were told we wanted—the one where you fight through getting through the day just to work, eat, and sleep. The truth is that you were meant to delight in life and in the simple things. You are meant to co-create beauty and have meaningful relationships beyond working and being on your phone.

At Haia, we practice because we acknowledge that life will have high moments and low, but it's the perspective you have that can either drown you or give you the skills to navigate the tides. We practice because in a world that was made to keep women stuck and superficial, we want our depth back and to feel beautiful as we are.

There are so many Pilates classes and yoga classes, but they all keep people performing and trying to outperform each other instead of doing what the practice was always meant to do: go inward and find your own alignment. This is why we teach you how to measure your own alignment. Two bodies are never the same, and even though you were taught yours was not beautiful, that is not true. The beauty aspect obscures the power your body holds, and this is purposeful—they do this so that you remain malleable and easily manipulated. A body that is alive holds a human that is alert and awake.

There is no therapist, truth-seer, drug, or product that could possibly give you the permanent and pure delight of finding your own center and the power of your own truth within. We do not need more external validation; we need inner reflection—not from a place where we believe we are broken and need to be fixed, but from a place of knowing we are simply bent out of shape and need to mend the cup.

You don't get another cup, but you do have one that can get stronger and can shapeshift if you do the right things. That is the power of practice. That is the heart of Haia.