What about the elbows? Looks like they were locked with the eyes of the elbows facing forward and not toward one another. I thought the latter was a more stable/strong position?

Hi Melissa, my understanding is that the 'eyes of the elbow placement' is more about checking for that external rotation & spiraled engagement of the upper arms, when it comes to stability. Just one teacher's thought, but I'd love to hear Rosemary's thoughts on this! =)

Melissa, very good question/ observation. I think there are different schools of thought on this. I am more concerned with the alignment of the shoulders, wrists, hands, etc. I have found that different bodies have very different orientation around the eyes of the elbows once everything else is aligned well. If we force the eyes of the elbows to face one another above all else, it can actually throw other aspects of the body/ the pose out of wise alignment. Thank you for the inquiry!