The 5th yama can keep you doing yoga for a very long time.
Looking around the yoga practice room you can easily spot the new people. It has nothing to do with the brand new and trendy yoga clothes that they have bought from the up scale yoga clothing store. The real telling point is how hard they are struggling at their yoga poses.
Bob for example has been coming to classes for a month now. He is not wearing trendy yoga clothes, but he is trying really hard to do the yoga pose as well as the teacher and the more advanced students in the class. He is struggling and straining to go further into each pose.
One of the yoga philosophies deals directly with this situation. The fifth yama Aparigraha (non covetousness, non attachment) will help Bob to understand how to practice yoga.
What is Aparigrapha
The non attachment yama Aparigrapha teaches you that you should accept the current state of flexibility of your body and do your yoga pose as well as you can comfortably manage. Being comfortable in your yoga pose and moving as far as possible at the same time into it will give you the most benefit.
Who needs to practice Aparigrapha
Everyone who practices yoga needs to adopt the Aparigrapha philosophy and let go of trying to achieve perfection right now. People new to yoga, like Bob, are most in need of embracing this philosophy because they like Bob are trying too hard and could injure themselves.
When do you need to practice Aparigrapha
Aparigrapha or Non attachment in a yoga practice deals with your yoga practice and what you are thinking about. This applies equally to people new to yoga and people that have been practising yoga for a long time.
Bob is new to yoga, he sees his teacher doing a yoga pose and he is compelled to do the pose as well as them. So he tries really hard to get his body to co-operate and move further into the pose. His body is being its usual inflexible self and refuses to go into the pose because it is unable to. Bob struggles to get into the pose and his body resists. There is no way Bob can get into the pose as far as he wants to. Bob is getting frustrated with his lack of flexibility.
It takes about six months of doing a regular yoga practice before Bob will be able to get his ego under control and learn to accept where he is in his yoga practice. After this time Bob will start to accept where he is in his flexibility and accept how well he can do a particular yoga pose. He will have developed non attachment with his yoga practice.
But the need for Aparigrapha or non attachment can suddenly become necessary for the long time student as well.
Why is the practice of Aparigrapha important
The practice of Aparigrapha is important for students new to yoga as well as long time students.
New student
This non attachment yama teaches the student to be more accepting of where they are at the present moment with their practice. The new person generally tries too hard and will end up over stretching or injuring their muscles. It takes time for the new student to accept where they are at with their yoga practice and listen to and learn from the feedback that their body is giving them.
Long time student
The long time student can get caught in the attachment trap as well and forget the teachings of Aparigrapha.
The trap happens when a student approaches a threshold in a particular yoga pose and they decide that they are going to reach that goal no matter what and they push beyond their edge and they end up injuring themselves.
This extra push and injury usually serves as a reminder that they have forgotten about the non attachment yama.
How do you practice Aparigrapha
The first thing to do to start practicing Aparigrapha is to become more aware of your body and the feedback that it is giving you. When your muscles are saying “that is far enough” listen, respect what the body has to say. Stay within the limit of what is possible for your body today.
This does not mean that you give up on trying to improve. You need to listen to what your body has to say about a pose while still pushing to the limit of your ability. You should challenge your body while remaining just behind that over extended and injury place.
Learning to “let go” and accept where you are at today in a pose is important. This acceptance is the main teaching that Aparigrapha teaches you.
Some common mistakes
There are three common mistakes that yoga students fall into when they start learning yoga.
1. Trying too hard to emulate the teacher or others
As a result the student will over extend themselves and injury to their muscles is a common result. The other result is the amount of frustration and stress that they develop. This will make the student very unhappy with their yoga practice and they will abandon it before they have had a chance to see any benefits.
2. Ignore feedback from your body
If you do not pay attention to the feedback from your body you will go too far into a yoga pose and cause stress and potentially injury to your muscles. When your body says that you are trying to go too far into a pose and there is fear of injury, it is time to stop and back off a little bit. Pay attention to what the body has to say and you will have a happy and satisfying practice.
3. Stop trying to improve
This third mistake usually happens after you have finally learnt from the previous two mistakes. But now you are not trying at all. You enter a yoga pose and you remain in a very relaxed state. There is no attempt to try to improve how well you are doing the pose. You are too far back from the challenging but comfortable edge.
Summary
To get the most out of your yoga practice you need to adopt the Aparigrapha yama and learn how to do a yoga pose with out over extending and hurting your body. At the same time you do not want to be completely relaxed and at ease in a pose. You should be challenging yourself by taking your body to a safe but challenging place in each yoga pose.
Adopting Aparigrapha outside of the yoga studio will result in the lowering of the level of stress in your body. Your family will be happier to have you around as well.
Adopting the Aparigrapha yama of non attachment will permit Bob to enjoy his yoga practice a whole lot more if only he would give up his struggle to have a perfect practice right now and let his body gradually improve over time. He will be happier and his body will be a lot happier as well.
Next steps
Check out what you are thinking the next time you are trying a difficult yoga pose. Are you struggling to go further than your body is ready to go. Remember the fifth Yama Aparigrapha and let go of the distant goal of perfection and work on the more immediate goal of working on the pose to the best of your ability for today.
