‘Yoga is not for me!!’ those words resonate with me every time someone says they tried it and wouldn’t do it again. Sadly it’s people who have attended a yoga class in the past and then been put off and never attended another one. The age and lifestyles of people who said this vary but the main reason they never went back was…….
They weren’t bendy enough!! or they were put off by the class who were so flexible, they thought they would never reach that stage.
Yoga should never be a competition for you to be as fit as the other students or instructor, we are all perfectly imperfect. I can say honestly even as an instructor, we have postures we can’t get into or old injuries that stop us doing certain postures. Competing with others will only put you off or make you sad, so if you find yourself watching others in a yoga class as they do the perfect posture, then close your eyes and go within, compete with yourself.
Ask yourself :
‘Did that feel easier than it did last time’? or
‘How do I feel doing this posture, does my body feel tight in certain parts? If it does then send a deep breath into those tight areas.
Most importantly, leave your expectations at the door, before you join the class.
Whenever you come across a part of your body that feels tight, be compassionate with yourself, never force yourself into a posture that your body can’t go into easily. Our bodies have to build muscle memory and if we surprise it by trying to do a back bend from nowhere, it’s likely our body will answer back!! Sometimes it can take several attempts to feel comfortable in a yoga posture so build the muscle memory slowly and compassionately and accept that sometimes you may never feel comfortable and that’s the next point.
Feeling uncomfortable can be good for the mind, because we get ourselves out of our comfort zone, when we feel comfortable with being uncomfortable. Remember I said uncomfortable, I didn’t say broken or challenged beyond our capability. A little discomfort can be good for you and a good Yoga instructor will recognise if this is too much for you and give you alternative ways to achieve the same effect.
Consider Yoga as the journey and not the destination, which is a good reason for calling it yoga practise. All Yogi’s are ‘lifelong’ students, even those that teach have mentors, who we continuously learn from. We constantly learn and strive to stay in the moment and achieve a sense of balance in our body and minds and sometimes we achieve it and sometimes we don’t, but that’s ok too.
One friend said to me ‘They told me to stand on one leg on the first yoga session’. Again there are alternatives to this and just resting one foot against the other is enough to start to build muscle memory. Someone who has never stood on one leg in the Tree pose will really feel challenged to do it the first time so as instructors we understand that but be compassionate with yourself.
As we get older, balance is critical and building the muscle memory of ‘balance’ will help you to stay safer, in case you trip or fall. Last year I came out of my back door and tripped over the doorstep and was heading face forward for a concrete step. Instinct told me to put my hands out to soften my fall and at this point I was in danger of breaking my arms or wrists. What happened next shocked me because as I softened my fall, I found myself in the yoga ‘plank’ pose, with just a few inches from that stone step. I was still in shock for a little while but without Yoga practise I know my head would have hit that step.
Click here for an interesting article here about Yoga and those suffering from Parkinsons disease, which affects balance, and how much it is helping sufferers.
At Oldshoremore Retreats our values are to be inclusive so we hope you will never feel like you’re not bendy enough and will be accepted into our yoga family, no matter what your ability is. Don’t give up on Yoga, just find another mentor who you relate to.