Yoga Myth Busted

I often hear from folks who think that they can’t do yoga because they are not flexible enough. Maybe you have that same thought. But that isn’t true at all. Flexibility is not a prerequisite for doing yoga, but might be an outcome of doing yoga.

I can assure you that there is more to yoga than elaborate twists and elaborate postures. Those pretzel-like postures that seem to be taken right out of of a Cirque du Soleil™ performance are mostly for show. Frankly, the images on social media of skinny young women doing funky yoga poses in tiny outfits have skewed the public perception of yoga. The core of yoga is focusing on the breath and exploring how the body feels. You can do that, no matter how flexible you are.

Most yoga poses can be adapted to your level of flexibility (which will improve as you do yoga regularly). The focus shouldn’t be on how you look in a pose, but where you feel the stretch. Simple adjustments and props, such as yoga blocks and a yoga strap, can be used to modify the postures to work for your current level of flexibility.

For example, the purpose of downward facing dog posture is to stretch the spine without rounding the lower back. The goal isn’t to have straight legs and bring your heels to the floor. If you have tight hamstrings, I’d ask you to start out in downward facing dog with your knees bent and to really put an effort into getting your spine as long and straight as possible. Only then will I ask you to move towards straightening your legs, but to stop as soon as you notice your lower back rounding. This might mean that the ending pose for you is a downward facing dog with very bent knees. Perfect!

Yoga offers a unique combination of deep stretching with dynamic movement. This combination lengthens the muscles and realigns the body. This type of movement is especially important in today’s reality where we spend so much of our time sitting. Over time, our bodies get lazy, muscles atrophy, and our joints get stiff. By doing yoga regularly, we stretch our muscles and increase our range of motion. I have seen this transformation from yoga in my own body. I used to suffer from lower back back pain and there was no way I could touch my feet in a forward bend. Today, I haven’t had back pain in years and no problem touching my toes. I am prepared to tie my own shoe laces until I am 100!

I encourage you to give yoga a try. Taking yoga classes online removes the potential barrier of feeling embarrassed that you are not as advanced in yoga as others in the class. There is no comparing yourself to others in an online yoga class. It allows you to focus on your own practice. [If you want to do yoga with me, click here to access the schedule for my online slow flow yoga classes, which are very accessible for beginners.]

I am currently putting together a free 5-day online beginner’s yoga challenge, which I hope to announce in the next few weeks. At the completion of the challenge, I plan to offer a 6-week online beginner's yoga class series where each class will slowly build on the previous one. Let me know if you have any suggestions or feedback for me as I put these together. Also would love to hear if you might be interested in joining.

Best,
Christine

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