Learning to ride your bike takes time.
Remember when you were learning to ride a bicycle.
First you started with training wheels on the back so you would not fall over while you were learning how to peddle and steer.
Next the training wheels were gone and your Dad would hold you up while you were learning to balance. Eventually your balance got good enough that you did not need him to hold you up, but he was still there running along beside in case of need.
Finally your Dad stopped running beside you and you were on your own. Now you were learning the finer points of riding a bicycle with your Dad giving you some guidance.
Learning a yoga pose is much the same as learning to ride a bicycle. You go through three stages of learning:
- Physical
- Structural
- Mental
You work you way through these three stages every time you learn a new pose. You have to complete stage 1 before you can successfully move on to stage 2 and then on to stage 3.
Stage 1 – Physical
In Stage 1 it is all about the appearance of the pose. You struggle with figuring out where the various parts of the body go.
Your teacher will demonstrate the pose and then they will set some goals to work towards based on the current flexibility of your body. The goals that are set will be just challenging enough but not overwhelming for you.
You work towards these physical goal and as your body gets more flexible you actually reach the goat. Once you have done that your teacher will set the next set of goals. And you move gradually along the path that the teacher is laying out before.
Eventually you will reach the goal of physically achieving the pose. Once this has happened your teacher will set some new goals. These goals are different however. Now the goals have to do with the structural components of the pose rather than the physical appearance.
Stage 2 – Structural
The Structural stage of learning a pose brings additional insight and benefit to you and your body. In this stage you start to focus more on your alignment and your muscles.
You become more aware of the alignment of your arms and legs. You are focused on your joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Your teacher will helping you to get your alignment just right and using the correct muscles to support you in the pose.
Once you start to get the alignment correct and the proper muscles engaged, you will discover that the pose will continue to get easier to do.
The physical appearance will not change that much at this stage. What is changing is how you use the internal structure of your body: your bones; your muscles; and your joints to support you in the pose.
Once you get the structural component of the pose in place you will discover that this new yoga pose will become a comfortable place to be. You will start to enjoy the posture and look forward to doing it.
At this point you move from the structural stage to the mental stage.
Stage 3 Mental
In the mental stage you are working on your mind. The physical and structural aspects of the pose are in place and now it is time to work on the mind.
What you thinking about while you are in the pose. There are all kinds of things that you need to be thinking about.
Gaze
Where is your gaze? Is it focused in the right place?
The gaze will help you to move further into the pose.
Breath
Are you doing Ujjayi breath? Is your breath flowing freely and easily?
The quality of your breath will tell you if you are in the right place. If you have moved to far into the pose your breath will be short and struggling. If you are in the right place, your breath will be flowing easily and comfortably.
Muscles
Are your struggling in the pose? Are your muscles comfortably challenged or they struggling?
Observe the tension in your muscles. Are your muscles being comfortably challenged or are they beyond their comfort zone and are they reacting in fear.
You want to challenge your muscles while remaining in a safe zone that will not cause you injury. Go too far into a yoga pose before your body is ready and your muscles will tighten up to prevent injury.
Thoughts
What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about the yoga pose or are your thoughts elsewhere on the future or the past?
To get the maximum benefit from the yoga pose you need to focus your mind on the pose and on the present moment. Leaving the room to think about something else will reduce the benefit of the pose considerably and could result in you injuring yourself.
I want to go Faster, Faster
One of the common mistakes that you will make when you first start your yoga practice is trying to go too far too fast. You see the teacher demonstrate a new yoga pose and you want to do it right away. Your ego wants you to be as good as the teacher.
This struggle with your ego is part of your yoga practice. You need to learn to accept the limitations that you and your body bring to your yoga practice. Accepting this limitation will allow you to move through the three stages of a yoga pose with safety and grace.
Summary
Just like riding a bicycle there are three stages to learning a yoga pose: Physical, Structural and Mental. And just like learning to ride a bicycle you have to master one stage before you can move on to the next stage.
Next steps
The next time your teacher gives you a new pose to learn, remember to take your time and work your way through the three stages. You will have a satisfying and rewarding learning experience.
