The Right Way

Have you ever been in a yoga class and the teacher cues a pose, such as Warrior One, and says something like "line up your front heel to the middle arch of your back foot". And then, you go to another instructor's class and they cue Warrior One by saying, "keep your feet hip width apart and shorten your stance". And if you went to a third instructor's class, they might say something completely different to the previous two. What do you do? You probably find yourself asking the question, "Well, which way is the right way?".

I raised this topic in classes that I taught this past week and it opened a beautiful door of discussion. Many students of yoga want to think that what they're doing is the right way to do it, mainly to ensure that they get the benefits of the pose and don't injure themselves. At least, that's what I project that they want and from a teachers viewpoint, my first objective is to keep things absolutely as safe as possible. I hold the intention that our yoga is a lifelong practice and to keep getting ourselves onto the mat, we need to know how to manage the obstacles that might keep us off our mats.

Some of those hurdles could be injury or recovery from illness. I have come across people who have an injury and completely step away from their practice rather than into it. This might be due to the idea that they've only practiced one way and they can no longer. To stay with the practice they have to alter their approach and that often means returning to a beginners mind. How can I manage my injury yet still stay connected to my practice? Am I able to let go of the more challenging class for a gentle or restorative practice?

Thinking about the right way to practice any pose, I came to my thought for the week. That is, that the right way to do a pose is the way that your body allows you to do the pose. This translates to each practitioner being responsible for what's happening in their physical selves, even if it means doing it differently to how the instructor has presented it. Not every body can fit into every pose and if we impose an ideal of what it should look like, then we skip over the part about it being our practice.

Granted, different lineages teach poses differently. What I love exploring is how can we honor these traditions and honor what our bodies are telling us simultaneously? Sometimes they both agree and at others, the body might be giving us different signals.

Here are the basic guidelines I like to offer my students in raising their awareness as to what the right pose is for them:

1. If you feel pain, it's not right.
2. Avoid forcing your body to do any posture. With timely progressions and warm up, your body will naturally move into a pose more deeply when it's ready.
3. If you feel discomfort, that's OK as long as it's not pain. Yoga often puts us into uncomfortable and unfamiliar positions. Find your breath and explore. If it moves into being painful, it's time to back off.
4. Know that your pose is going to look different to everyone else and that's the beauty of it.

With compassionate instruction and support, the right way to do a pose is your way. So, onto our mat and explore!