Images like the one above give us the impression that we should be able to compete with gymnast Simone Biles to be good at yoga.
I led a small group through a grief yoga practice the other day. A few days before the class, two thirds of my students got in touch to warn me they weren’t very flexible. They were willing to give it a go, but seemed to think they couldn’t do yoga like it was supposed to be done.
I reassured them ahead of time that a yoga practice worth its salt is always accessible and comfortable for the practitioner. Sukham is a key principle in yoga. It means to practice asana (movement) within your comfort. It’s the opposite of ‘no pain, no gain,’ the opposite of competitive sport.
I repeated the message at the beginning of class: yoga is accessible to everyone. Literally everyone. “If all you can do today is lie down and breathe, you can still practice yoga.”
Yoga has a place for anyone
I think of yoga like a big house full of rooms. Each room is different and there is a welcoming place for everyone in the house. You might need to knock on a few doors before you find the right place for you in this house, but trust me, there is a home for you in yoga.
In the morning you might be happiest in one room, but in the evening another is more comfortable. On Monday you might like the room on the left, and on Sunday you choose the door on the right. In different seasons and at different times of life, there is always a comfortable yoga practice to support you no matter where you’re at or who you are.
Yoga that’s like a gym workout is just one room, one way to practice. It’s hugely popular and great for some people, some of the time. But it’s not right for everyone, all of the time.
Asana is just 1 of 8 limbs
Any type of movement, in fact, is just one of eight limbs described by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. I’ll briefly list and define the eight limbs of yoga here. In future posts I’ll go more deeply into each one. But for now, just to put our mobility in perspective, let’s have a look at the bigger picture of yoga’s eight limbs:
- Yama: how we conduct ourselves in the world
- Niyama: how we take care of ourselves
- Asana: conscious movement and postures
- Pranayama: lengthening of the breath
- Pratyāhāra: withdrawal of the senses
- Dhāranā: concentration on one object
- Dhyānåm: deep connection to the object of meditation
- Samādhi: the experience of universal oneness (enlightenment)
As I told my students in grief yoga, asana is one of several steps towards samādhi, which is the ultimate (and more difficult) goal. If you ever doubt your ability to do yoga, because you haven’t exercised in a while or you don’t think you’re flexible enough, rest assured there is room for you in the house of yoga.