Yoga for the Pose or Yoga for the Process?
photo credit: Chuck Savage
Who’s in charge of your practice: your head or your Heart?
Let me explain. I’m just coming off of a rewarding week of teaching asana. The alignment focus was powerful and clear. After every class students came to me with Ah-Ha moments. I LOVE weeks like this!
Thing is, I taught the same old poses that I’ve been teaching for years - but I offered a different way of aligning in the pose which made it come alive in the students’ bodies. Therefore Ah-Ha moments - like “OH my back doesn’t hurt in this backbend when it usually does…” and “I can sit up taller than ever before and I don't feel like I’m working so hard.”
If I’d been focused only on offering them the next new flashy pose - they would’ve missed this opportunity to learn more about their bodies as they practiced familiar poses. Instead, they added new awareness for how the old poses can feel, and who they are as they move through practice.
Do you practice yoga for the POSE or
Do you practice yoga for the PROCESS.
Yoga for the pose is yoga with an outcome in mind. We could argue whether that is even '“yoga” (a state of union with the Self) or if it is simply gymnastics, because having an outcome in mind changes the approach to the practice. With a pose in mind it’s a lot easier to ignore what your body is telling you while you chase the pose. It’s easier to push past your physical or emotional limits in your practice. When you ignore your body’s cries for a break or go beyond your limits you set yourself up for a possible injury. And practice with a pose in mind can breed competition with yourself and with other yogis. Yoga for the pose is about an achievement. What happens when you age or have an injury and your achievements fall away? Will you have gained anything from your yoga practice? Will it have helped you prepare for this next phase of your life?
In comparison, yoga for the process of yoga is all about feeling and experiencing in your practice. It invites honoring your body’s knowledge and respect for your limitations. So, it is inherently a safer way to practice if you stop when your body tells you to. It also invites curiosity, exploration, acceptance and introspection on your mat. These are qualities that our society doesn’t really respect much - but I think we are all SO hungry for them in our lives! And, moving into the process of yoga invites connection with yoga friends as you recognize that we’re all in this yoga/life thing together. And we’re all doing in our own timing.
This is how I see it:
Yoga for the pose is yoga guided by your head. It is outer experience driven
Yoga for the practice is yoga guided by your Heart. It is inner experience driven.
Who do you want in charge, your head or your Heart?
For most of us, our lives are dominated by our heads. We think, we decide, we evaluate, we strive, we attempt, we recalculate, and we achieve over and over again. We don't take time to slow down and feel.
Yoga is the perfect environment for doing life differently. Yoga is the opportunity to drop back into your body and your Heart. In your Heart you can FEEL, you can intuit, you can sense. In your Heart you find creativity, acceptance, peace and Love.
Magic happens all the time on the mat when you guide practice from your Heart. Oftentimes, when you listen to your body, practice delivers the pose without your having to force it. Practice from your Heart also starts to seep out into your daily life. You have more connection to your intuition, and you don’t feel as drawn to achieve things that you used to want to achieve. Instead you feel pulled towards deeper connections with your loved ones and with Nature.
But most importantly, practice from the Heart can lead to actual yoga, as in glimpses of a state of union between you and the Self. And at the deepest level, isn’t that why we’re practicing in the first place?
Question for you: What is driving your practice these days: Head or Heart? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this post in the comments area below.
And, are you ready to explore a more process drive yoga experience? I invite you to join me in public class sometime soon. View Schedule here! Not Local to RVA? Practice with me on my new YouTube channel anytime.