you can't be bad at yoga, and I can prove it

This post is for everybody who's ever been to one yoga class and was immediately scared off, never to return again. This post is for everybody who's been too intimidated even to show up at a yoga class. This post is for everybody who thinks that, because of some bodily limitation they may have, they cannot do yoga. 

You can do yoga. I promise.

Hear me out, because I know, I know - you can't even touch your toes. But you can do yoga without being able to touch your toes. You always hear yogis say that you can't be bad at yoga - Lord knows I do this all the time. The thing is, while this is technically true, it's not actually a helpful statement. It's a bit of a cop-out, really. I can't speak for anybody else, but I think that I personally use this catch-all so much because it feels like such a big thing to try to explain, so if you can distill it down into one phrase that, while watering down the meaning, gets your point across, you might as well. It's better than saying nothing at all.

So I'm not going to stop telling people they can't be bad at yoga, although I want to try to add some insight to that statement whenever I can. But I do want to write a full post about this to explain what this actually means.

Yoga, at its simplest, is a union between mind, body, and breath. I like to tell my students that yoga is meditation through movement, and that the breath is the most important part of your practice. While yoga may look like an external practice, it is much more of an internal practice. Yes, a yoga practice offers strength and flexibility benefits, and they might be the effects that you see first. But the clarity and the mindfulness and all of the other mental and emotional benefits should not be overlooked, because they are the most powerful thing that you could gain from a yoga practice. 

When we choose to look at yoga as an internal rather than an external practice, it not only encourages us not to compare our physical practice with others, but it also gives us space to treat the physical aspect as what it is: a means to an end. It's a point of access to the mind. So not only does it not really matter if you can't touch your toes, or you can't hold a plank for a minute: it is completely irrelevant. If you are moving and breathing, you are doing yoga. 

It's easy to get caught up in focusing on progress in yoga - I definitely do this. And while getting into a new pose is exciting and worthwhile, it is a side effect, and should be treated as such. It is not the point. If you are striving for anything, strive to keep your attention on your breath as much as you can. 

Showing up is 100% of your yoga practice. This can be hard to accept, because we're so used to our worthiness and our success being determined by our performance - think grades, athletic competitions, etc. - but yoga does not function like this. You get 100% if you show up on your mat. You get a gold star and a first-place medal even if you show up on your mat and all you do is lay down and breathe. 100%, just like that. 

Now, when I say "show up," I mean mentally, emotionally, and physically. If you are on your phone during your practice, you are not present and you have not shown up. Of course, I'm not saying that your success is now based on mental rather than physical performance; it's okay if your mind wanders - it happens. But if you aren't protecting yourself from distractions, like screens, you are cheating yourself out of the benefits of your practice. It's about the intent, rather than the results.

I think these aspects of yoga are hard to communicate quickly and effectively. I'll be working on it, but for now, I hope that I've taken one step towards a more accessible idea of yoga for everybody. I do truly believe that every person can do yoga, and that every person's practice will look different, and that every person needs that practice for different reasons. If your practice doesn't fit the mold, honour that; there is no right way, there is only your way.

Namaste.