Getting Started
When you first start doing yoga you are very enthusiastic and want to do all of the poses as good as the person next to you. Your ego gets in the way of what the body is trying to tell you and you push yourself harder than you should. You go home and the muscles are very sore the next day and sometimes an injury could also have happened.
Your teacher will tell new students to take it easy and respect the limitations of their body. Yoga is not a competition and each student starts with a different amount of flexibility to begin with.
However during the fist six months the ego and enthusiasm are very strong and the new student continues to work harder than they should.
After about six months the new student gradually comes to respect the limitations of the body and that it is not necessary to do the poses as good as the person next to them.
Oh So Close
The other time that the ego and enthusiasm gets in the way is when you are finally approaching a threshold in a pose. There is a strong desire to close that last little gap. Both the student and the teacher are vulnerable to this. In this case one or the other or both are trying harder than the body is ready to give and will push harder than should be done.
This happened to me as a student at the beginning of October when I was working on a new pose and finally making progress. My teacher and I tried to get further than the body was ready for and as a result I strained a muscle.
This happened to me as teacher when a student was very close to binding and I worked with them to close the gap. We did not pay attention to the body feedback and as a result the student ended up with some strained muscles.
Being aware that this can happen at any time will help the teacher and student to be on guard and treat the limitations of the body with more respect and give it time to continue its opening.
Yoga is a gradual process during which the body slowly opens and improves its alignment and strength.
December 2007 Newsletter
