I encourage my students to consider their yoga practice a dynamic thing that is growing and developing over time as we work on the poses we already do and also add new ones to our practice.
You can advance your practice by working to take the poses you currently do further while pursuing new poses, and thinking about the following as you go:
Your yoga practice affords you an opportunity to explore edges of your “comfort zone” in the safe space of your yoga mat. The confidence you build there you can then take out into the world where the challenges you face may have much greater consequences.
Effort is required to build strength and flexibility, to expand and grow. But we also want to feel good, to calm the mind and reduce our stress. Finding the right balance between effort and ease can be a challenge sometimes. Again, your yoga practice affords safe opportunities to explore how you work with yourself over time to achieve this balance; and that experience can be valuable in the other endeavors in your life.
In striving to advance your practice through challenging poses or some other efforts, there will be times of progress and times of failure. Be compassionate with yourself; humor and humility can be valuable. Enjoy the journey. And at each step of the way, let go of what happened or didn’t happen in the last step.
I love having challenging poses in my yoga practice, and I encourage my students to have a few challenge poses in their yoga practices, too. Why?
By “challenge pose” I mean a pose you aren’t able to do, or to do well, at present, but perhaps you will set an intention to work toward it. It will be different for each person, of course.
Working on challenging poses is a fun and healthy process for body and mind. It starts with an idea, perhaps from a yoga class, or something you see online; the key moment is when you set an intention: “Maybe I’ll Work Toward That Pose”. This can put extra life in your yoga practice.
Then you break the pose down: what are you missing to be able to do it? Its probably some combination of motor skills that your body must learn (such as coordination or balance), and flexibility and strength in certain muscles and joints
Then you begin a process; maybe you forget the final pose for weeks while you work on these needed elements. Along the way there will be moments of progress, and of frustration; its an opportunity to be patient and persistent and resilient as you go.
Through such a process of working toward a challenge pose you build confidence and inner strength, qualities that you can develop in the safe space of your yoga mat and then take out to the bigger challenges you face in other endeavors in your life (work, school, family, community…).
Mermaid pose, shown here, is one of my favorite examples from my own experience. Years ago I attended a yoga class in which Monica, whose yoga mat was usually right in front of mine, did Mermaid pose many times over many months before it even occurred to me to aspire to it. First I had to develop the necessary flexibility in the quadriceps (front of thighs); that took weeks. Then I had to develop the motor skill to get the toes nestled into the elbow; that took additional time. After a few months I had it. Some people can do mermaid pose on their first attempt; I enjoyed my journey.
Working on arm balances builds strength, flexibility, balance, and confidence. A student’s first attempts at an unfamiliar arm balance are often effortful, awkward, and unsuccessful; but with practice (motor skill learning, building flexibility and strength as needed) the same pose can become comfortable and nearly effortless.
I include arm balances as the peak pose in my regular classes from time to time, and occasionally I present 90-minute arm balance workshops. In the workshops we start with warmup and preparatory poses to set the participants up for success, and we then work safely through over a dozen arm balances, starting with Crow pose. We also make good use of assists from blocks, the wall, and the teacher. These workshops are for all levels and are a lot of fun.
Inversions get your hips over your head. Going upside down shifts your perspective and increases blood flow to the head, calming the mind, improving concentration, and alleviating mental fatigue. I include inversions as the peak pose in my regular classes from time to time, and occasionally I lead 90-minute inversions workshops. In these workshops we start with warmup and preparatory poses to set the participants up for success, and then we work safely through several inversions, beginning with shoulderstands. We make good use of assists from blocks, the wall, and the teacher. These workshops are for all levels and are a lot of fun.
Partner yoga brings two people into combined poses for deeper stretches and twists for both. Through communication and teamwork, the partners give and receive support while making amazing shapes together and solving two-person yogapuzzles. My partner yoga workshops are for all levels, and the partners may be a couple, yogabuddies, relatives, or friends. We discover, play, laugh and have a lot of fun. I also occasionally include an optional partner yoga sequence in my regular yoga classes.
Its great to be in the room with all of the wonderful folks who come to yoga classes; and most yoga teachers have the time and inclination to answer any questions you may have after a class.
But in some instances an individual session with a yoga teacher can be useful; as examples:
I also work one-on-one with people wishing to focus on some aspect of their yoga practice as suggested in these examples.
Small or larger group private sessions are also a possibility. If you might be interested in an individual or group session, contact me to discuss.
©Copyright 2024 James F. Wilson
