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Yoga

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice makes perfect, or so the old adage goes. And never in society has this been truer. As the world grows smaller and seemingly more competitive, everyone is trying to succeed, to accomplish, to overcome, to 'perfect' - even those of us who practice yoga.

If you study with a yoga teacher, you have probably heard him or her say that yoga is a noncompetitive practice of the body, mind and spirit collectively. The physical benefits, you may hear, are only secondary and really just incidental. Yoga, we teach, should be practiced in the spirit of connecting mind, body and soul and not as a physical practice only.

Ohhhh, but it is so tempting! There are actually 'Yoga Butt' videos out there on the market! To the purist, this is shameful and I have to agree. But, I also have to admit it does make me think. I often say 'the only mat that matters in this class is the one you’re standing on!' and I DO mean it of course. But it is so easy - even for teachers - to fall into the trap of trying to maintain a 'perfect' yoga practice. How long will it take to sit in Padmasana (Lotus) for a prolonged period of time? How can I deepen my (physical) practice of yoga in the quickest way? How long will it take to perfect trikonasana (or insert your favourite pose and you’ll get what I’m saying)? These are questions that admittedly do enter into our minds as we practice.

So, how do we perfect the practice? Well, I’d like to start with our intent.

I often ask students to set an intention for practice but in the same breath say 'Now let go of any expectations you have.' I have been asked several times to clarify.

Let’s look at expectations first. Here are a few examples of just what I mean by an expectation.

A very physically fit student walks into class and EXPECTS yoga will be easy because she’s been training in another form of exercise for 5 years.

An older person is interested in taking yoga but EXPECTS he’ll not be able to do it because he is 'too old for that'.

A regular student of yoga has been suffering from lower back issues lately and EXPECTS to have pain during his or her class.

These are expectations. Leave them at home or, better yet, just let go of them completely!

Intentions are an altogether different thing. Here are some examples:

I intend to let go of the expectations that I set upon myself and just practice for a change!

I guess in bringing this up with all of you here, I want to remind you that the only way to practice PERFECT yoga is to JUST PRACTICE! Just let the process take place and let go of all the other stuff that creates resistance and prevents us from going further into our practice - perfectly!