Yoga Misunderstood

I constantly run into people who think yoga is something that it is not and is for something it is not. So, here's my version of yoga 101.

People say things like "I can't do yoga because I'm not flexible... because I'm not patient... because I'm out of shape... because I have an injury..." All of these statements are filled with misconception that yoga is something you achieve when in actuality it is a practice.

Let's start with an analogy everyone can relate to - homework. Homework and tests serve different purposes. Tests are checking to see if you have already learned the material. Homework is designed to teach you how to do something and to practice different scenarios. Yoga is like homework.

Here's one other analogy before I talk about what yoga is - yoga is like dance. You can dance fast or slow, standing up or sitting down, structured or unstructured, coordinated or not, square or ballet or salsa or tribal or any other way that suits your fancy. What ties all of this together is moving your body to music. Yoga is as varied as dance.

Hatha Yoga is as moving your body with breath. All you have to do is breath in while you move into one pose and breath out while you move into another pose. It's all the stuff that you do in between that makes different styles and teachers different. You can do yoga in a way that is relaxing or builds your flexibility or makes you sweat or gives you better balance or tones your muscles or focuses your mind. So, anyone can do yoga no matter what their physical state. One of the leading yoga teachers today developed his style because he was in a wheelchair and told he couldn't walk.

Just like homework, the benefits of yoga are in the doing, not in the completing. Let's say you are working to become more stronger. You have trouble doing pushups, so working on pushups really builds your strength. One day, doing a pushup is easy. You aren't done building strength because you can do a pushup, so now you have to find the next thing that is going to help you build strength - either more pushups or another excercise. The same holds true for yoga. If you are working to create flexibility and can't touch your toes then a forward fold is great for creating a stretch. Once that pose is easy, you have to find something else to get that same stretch. The yoga is in the stretch, not in the touching of your toes.

So, in a way I'm lucky that I can't touch my toes because no matter what pose I'm doing, I can still get a great stretch.

Make sense? Now that you have no more excuses, go practice.