It is time to clean the floor.
Sally’s going to mop the kitchen floor.
She gets out her mop.
She fills the bucket with hot soapy water.
Now Sally starts cleaning the floor.
Sally would much rather be down on her hands and knees washing the floor with a sponge rather than a mop. But Sally can not get down on the floor because her knees are not as flexible as they were when she was younger.
How does yoga help with flexibility
Yoga helps to increase your flexibility by working your muscles and joints gently and gradually over time. Each of the yoga poses take your muscles and joints to the limit of their flexibility.
Find the limit of your flexibility
With each yoga pose you move your body to the limit of your flexibility. You pay attention to the feedback that your body is giving. When you have reached the comfortable limit of your flexibility you stop. There is no benefit to push beyond this comfortable place. You want to come to that spot and not go past it.
You know you have found the right place in your flexibility when you realize that you can hold your position for several breaths.
I am stiff and can not do the pose
Your flexibility will determine how well you will be able to a pose. Your teacher will guide you into the pose and will suggest modifications and perhaps a replacement pose that will work better with your current flexibility.
There is a gradual improvement
As you continue to do your yoga practice each week you will notice that your flexibility is improving and you will be able to the yoga pose slightly better. When this starts to happen your teacher will start to give you different modifications to do based on your current flexibility.
How long will this process take
Your flexibility will increase gradually over time. Doing a yoga practice 2-3 times a week will give you muscles and joints lots of exercise and they will gradually start to lengthen. After about 3-4 months you will notice a significant increase in your flexibility.
Summary
Sally has been going to yoga twice a week with her daughter for 5 months now.
This past week Sally told me that she has retired her mop and is now able to get down on the floor and wash the floor the way she prefers with a sponge. It has been years since she was able to do this.
Next Steps
Talk to your teacher about what you would like to achieve in your life with yoga. Your teacher will help you to plan your yoga practise to work toward this goal.
