Comments on: Acceptance and Achievement

By: carl

carl — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:04:27 +0000

These are very well put comments…thanks!
Elizabeth, you’re correct that the physical nature of yoga is what attracts most people initially, and a good number of beginners will never see beyond the physical benefits. Others, however, begin to glimpse that there is much more to the practice of yoga than the physical.
Becky, very nice point about beginners trying too hard; forcing the body open is not what yoga is about, and trying to convey how simply doing the practice will allow our stiff bodies to become flexible naturally is one of the challenges of teaching.

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:55:23 +0000

Beautiful post.

“Yoga is all about balance.”

Absolutely, and balancing the tension between protecting ourselves and hurting ourselves by trying to achieve flashy poses is part of that.

I’ve noticed in my short time teaching that it’s the true beginners who are the scariest. They don’t know the limits of their bodies but want to look like everyone else in the class. I see their faces grimace as they try their hardest to forward fold over tight hamstrings that haven’t been stretched in years or even decades. I tell them that the goal is not to touch their face to their legs like the pictures in the magazines, but to get a comfortable stretch.

I think it’s common in just about everything for people to walk in for the first time and want to be good at it. Yoga is no exception.

Yoga is not the problem, but a solution. People walk into yoga wanting to achieve poses. It’s how we’re taught to do everything in life. Yoga is the only thing I can think of where being good at it isn’t the end goal. As yoga teachers, we get to teach people that for once in their lives, it’s not a competition, and it doesn’t matter how awesome you are.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:33:50 +0000

I think that you are correct when you say that yoga is about balance, and balance is one of those things that we are constantly striving to achieve.

I believe that it is hard to practice something like Ashtanga yoga without desiring to deepen one’s experience in all areas. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. It’s just that the physical aspect of Ashtanga happens to be the most obvious to observe through our senses. Especially to students who are at the beginning of their yoga experience.

Aspiring to fully express oneself in a certain asana is not ultimately what yoga is about. But if this desire is what instigates someone to begin their exploration of what yoga is, then what harm is done? We can then hope that their path is intercepted by one of the gentle, caring teachers,(that seem to cross our path at just the right time) who will bestow enlightenment along their road, allowing them to see yoga for what it truly is a “system of self-transformation which makes the body flexible, strong and healthy and brings mental clarity, peace and happiness”