While its true that a yoga practice does not provide all the movement a body needs, it does provide most of the natural human movements including the squat. What’s the big deal about squatting? 
Since it is a primal human movement, that means you’ll see babies squatting in all forms and in fact the baby in the womb is squatting. Its a posture that is practical for everything from resting, cooking, eating, cleaning and elimination. It would be better for us westerners in so many respects if we adopted less chair-sitting and more squatting. We would all be healthier if we could squat through our lifetime including old age.
In class we will cover different modifications for a squat. The first picture in this post shows the use of a wedge. This one comes from the company Hugger Mugger, which we support and recommend. The wedge gives a lift to the heels for those whose ankle bones don’t have the necessary mobility to allow the heels to come all the way to the floor.
The second photo comes from the Alexander Technique site illustrating the proper alignment of the body while in a natural squat. Its simple and elegant and our kids make it look so easy.
The third picture comes from Sapore de Cina, showing how common and easy squatting is in Eastern cultures.
Here’s a link that gives the benefits of squatting.
