Work towards your goals one after the other
The instructions flowed out one at a time:
- Turn left
- Drive 5 km
- Turn right
Your GPS unit keeps giving you instructions on how to reach your destination. When you reach one milestone your GPS tells you what to do next. You and your GPS unit know the final destination, but your GPS unit does not give you all of the instructions at once. It provides them to you one after the other.
It is much the same in yoga. Your yoga teacher and your GPS unit have a lot in common.
How does your GPS work
A GPS unit is a great tool to keep you from getting lost or frustrated when you are going from one place to another. This is especially useful if you have never been to your destination before.
You work with your GPS unit through these steps every time you use it.
— Pick a destination
— Select the best route
— Drive to the milestone
— Set the next milestone
— Repeat
Your GPS unit does not overload you with information. It gives you enough information and guidance to reach the current milestone. It even gives you feedback on how well you are doing.
When your destination is achieving a particular yoga pose rather than driving to the lake, your GPS unit is not very helpful. But your yoga teacher is and your yoga teacher behaves in a fashion very similar to your GPS unit.
How is a yoga teacher like your GPS unit
You and your yoga teacher pick out a destination. In this case the destination is a particular yoga pose.
Much like the steps with the GPS unit above, you and your yoga teacher are going to go through a very similar set of steps.
Pick a destination
Your yoga teacher will demonstrate the yoga pose for you. This will give you an idea of what your destination looks like. It always helps when you are learning a new yoga pose to have some idea of what the final configuration will be. When you know what the destination looks like you will be able to tell how well you are progressing toward the final destination.
Select the best route
Your yoga teacher will figure out the best way for you to move from where you are at the moment toward the final version of the posture. Your teacher may decide that you need to do some alternate postures to help prepare you for this posture or they may give you some modifications to the posture that will help prepare you to reach your milestone.
Work toward the milestone
Your teacher will give a milestone to work toward. First you need to do this and then you need to do this. As your body gets more flexible you will finally reach the milestone. This will take a varying amount of time depending on the flexibility in your body and the frequency that you are practising yoga.
Set the next milestone
Once your teacher is satisfied that you have reached the current milestone, they will tell you what the next milestone is and what you need to do to reach that milestone. They will once again help you to reach that milestone by assisting and adjusting you in the pose.
Repeat
This process is repeated many times until you reach the final destination and you are able to achieve the yoga pose to your’s and your teacher’s satisfaction.
Why is the GPS method the best way to learn a yoga pose
You are not overwhelmed by all of the information. Your teacher only tells you what you need to know to get from where you are to the next milestone.
You are not frustrated by how much there is that needs to be done. You are only working toward the next milestone you are not concerned with nor are you aware of how long this journey will be from one milestone to next milestone until you reach the final destination.
Your teacher will give you modifications that work with your current condition. Your teacher is there to help you move toward the next milestone. You are not on your own. They are offering guidance and adjustments that are constantly moving you toward your destination.
But I want to move faster
If you move too fast you could injure yourself. If you try to do the final version of the pose without developing the strength and flexibility that the pose requires you could injure a joint, muscle, tendon or ligament. It is best to follow the path that your teacher has laid out for you. You may surprise yourself and move very rapidly from milestone to milestone.
When you are driving a car with a GPS toward a destination you tend to move at a fairly consistent speed. When you are working on learning yoga pose you move forward a varying speeds. At some places along the journey you move forward quickly and at other places you move forward very slowly while the body develops the strength and flexibility that is required to achieve the pose. Take the time required to establish a firm foundation for the next stages of the yoga pose.
Summary
A GPS unit will help you get your car to your destination without overwhelming you with all kinds of information.
Similarly a yoga teacher will move you toward the final version of a yoga pose one milestone at a time without overwhelming you with all of the detail at one time. They will give you only the information that you need to get to the next milestone.
Next Steps
Work with your yoga teacher to learn a new yoga pose following the GPS method. You will be glad you did.
